Disillusioned Memories
by The Blue Time Ranger
Summary: A brand new supervillain has emerged for the spies to stop, but this time, however, it's personal, as this villain is someone Nick knows, despite his insistence that this person is supposed to be dead. Can the spies take down this latest superbad, and can Nick put the demons of his past to rest? Co-op project with Mat49324, and episode three of "Totally Spies: The New Adventures".
1. Fragmented Memory

**7:30 AM - Downtown Beverly Hills**

A fifteen-year-old girl with long, wavy auburn hair could be seen walking down the streets of Beverly Hills, a bright smile on her face.

May Iwakura was another close friend of Nick's, though she'd left about a few years ago to see the world at her parent's request.

The second she'd returned, she sent Nick an email hoping that they could meet up again. As of now, she was heading towards the spies' villa, where Nick was currently living with his friends.

"Wow. I can't believe it's been over three years since I've seen him," May stated to herself, looking at the bracelet that wrapped around her left wrist. It was a locket bracelet, given to her by Nick before she'd left for the world. Inside the locket strapped to the bracelet was a picture of Nick and May together at the park, hand in hand and smiling.

May sighed wistfully. She'd always loved that picture...

Suddenly, a series of loud honking sounds brought May out of her reverie. She looked up and groaned - the traffic was becoming too congested. Typical rush-hour nonsense.

Suddenly, May smiled brightly. "Guess I can hoof it."

Saying nothing, May tensed up, bending backwards a bit. Suddenly, a few of the random people looked towards May's position. One second, they saw her...

...but a split-second later, the people only saw thin air.

May had taken off in a rapid streak, her well-exercised legs propelling her forward as she effortlessly weaved through the congested traffic towards her destination. Many people that May sped by reached out of their vehicles to yell, but they only yelled at air.

**Meanwhile, in a shady-looking building...**

Somewhere in a dark building, a mysterious figure was watching May's speed-running on a set of viewscreens.

"Interesting... this girl's speed is something I will have to... _acquire_," the mystery man stated, laughing maniacally. Then, he turned to a girl he was holding captive.

"Isn't that right, Dawn?"

**7:55 AM – The Spies' Villa**

It seemed like a normal day to the spies, at least for a short while after the intense battle that nearly cost them two of their friends. Alex, Nozomi, Mathew, Sam, and Clover were still asleep, while Nick, Haruka, and Bridget were sitting together on the couch, watching the sunrise.

"Man, it feels good to be just sitting here with my friends, just relaxing, _especially_ after what just happened," Nick stated to nobody in particular.

"We're just glad you're all right, Nick," Haruka explained in a slightly worried tone. "I was so afraid we were going to lose you back there..."

"You girls have to learn to stop worrying so much. It's gonna take a lot more than that to bring me down," Nick explained.

After a while of her super-quick running, May finally reached the suburbs, stopping right in front of the spies' villa.

"I think this is the place. I just hope he's home..." May said to herself, walking up and knocking twice on the villa's door.

* * *

(Memories can be deceiving. They can be a benevolent ruler, or a cruel mistress. But what happens when they're both?)

**Mat49324** and **The Blue Time Ranger** are proud to present:  
_Totally Spies! Undercover: __Disillusioned Memories  
_**Story Rated:** T for Teen (for intense moments, a bit of harsh language, and lots and lots of action)

**Story Summary:** My third joint project with Mat49324 that picks up right from where _Beyond the Looking Glass_ left off. It seems life is going back to normal for the spies and their friends after seemingly finally defeating Terrence once and for all, but when it comes to being an agent of WOOHP, normal is forever a relative term. A new bad guy has risen, but this time around, it's personal, as this villain is someone Nick knows, despite his insistence that this person is supposed to be dead. Can the spies take down this latest superbad, and can Nick put the demons of his past to rest?

**And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer:** Mat49324 and I do not own anything related to Totally Spies or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Marathon Media Group, Image Entertainment Corporation, Vincent Chalvon-Demersay, and David Michel. The only things of this story we DO own are any characters created by us truly for the story (in this case, Nick, Haruka, Bridget, May, Nozomi, Dawn, and Melissa on my side, and Mathew on his side). Any characters or things we don't own, we are just borrowing with no intent of copyright infringement, only for the entertainment of our readers. Besides, if we _did_ own Totally Spies, which we _don't_, why would we be writing fiction on a fan site?

**Author's Note from The Blue Time Ranger:** This is NO LONGER Mat49324's last _Totally Spies_ story period, since we've been brainstorming ideas for a sequel to this! And I PROMISE (and I mean it this time) that we won't take NINE FREAKING YEARS to get it done. I seriously don't know why that even happened the way it did...

* * *

Episode 1: Fragmented Memory

Before Haruka could say anything else, the three friends heard a few knocks on the door.

"I'll get it!" Nick exclaimed, heading for the door. When he opened it, he gasped in surprise: a fifteen-year-old girl with long, wavy auburn hair, pure emerald green eyes, and an orange and black dress was standing in the doorway. Nick instantly recognized her.

"Is... is that you, Nick?" May asked.

"Holy crap, May!" Nick exclaimed back, throwing his arms around his friend, who in turn did the same.

"I knew I'd find you here!" May exclaimed. "You ALWAYS put your address on your emails, silly."

"I guess it's a habit," Nick responded. "I take it you already know Haruka?"

"Clear as crystal," May replied.

"And this," Nick explained, pointing to Bridget, "is Bridget Taylor, a friend I met when I first came to America."

"Nice to meet you, Bridget," May greeted, to which Bridget responded with a shy wave of her hand.

"Didn't you say you had some more friends?" May asked.

"Yeah. They should be waking up just about now. When they come down here, I'll introduce you to them," Nick explained, just in time to hear a yawn from upstairs.

(Sam's P.O.V.)

I awoke from my slumber and stepped into the bathroom to change to my swimsuit for a morning swim. When I came down, I noticed another girl with Nick, Haruka and Bridget.

"Hey, who are you?" I asked.

"Oh, hey, Sam," Nick said. "This is May Iwakura, another one of my close friends; May, this is Sam."

"Geez, how many 'close friends' do you have?" I said.

"It's a habit, I guess," Nick replied.

The four of them noticed me in my swimsuit.

"Another morning swim, Sam?" Haruka asked.

"Mm-hmm," I simply responded.

"Care to join?"

"Sure," Haruka and Bridget said.

Nick joined us.

"What about you, May?" Nick asked.

"Sure, why not," May responded.

_Meanwhile, in the pool..._

"Wow, Nick," Sam stated to Nick, "you sure seem to have a lot of friends from Japan, huh?"

"I was kinda popular back at Umi no Hoshi," Nick explained. "But May was a different story. She saved me from a bully, and we kinda just hit it off after that."

_Nick was walking through the hallways of his middle school alma mater, Umi no Hoshi, just hoping he could get to class without running..._

"_Hey, kid!"_

_...into him._

_The local school bully, Burt, had just come around, and he'd been making it a habit to bother the heck out of Nick recently. As you could tell, Nick was getting pretty sick of it._

"_Look, Burt. I'm in a real hurry, and I'm not in the mood for this," Nick responded. "I have a VERY IMPORTANT English class I cannot afford to miss, so would you kindly shove off?"_

_Nick tried to dodge around Burt, but he wouldn't let Nick get by. "I don't think so, buddy. Your lunch money has a very important meeting with me today, so fork it over!"_

_Even though Burt had brute strength on his side, he wasn't very smart. "Um, dumbbell, does __**this**__ answer your question?" Nick shot back, holding us his Super Sentai-patterned lunch box. "Now MOVE. I'm not in the mood today!"_

_Nick attempted to dash around Burt, only to feel a clenched hand come down on his back, causing him to fall to the linoleum floor and drop his schoolbooks._

"_Give me your lunch money before I do something you'll regret," Burt said with a menacing tone, advancing on Nick, but was stopped by a new female voice._

"_How about you let that kid get to class before __**I**__ do something __**you'll**__ regret?" the new voice stated. Burt turned around to see a girl with long, flowing auburn hair and an orange outfit standing in a fighting stance._

"_Oh, crap, it's you!" Burt exclaimed with a bit of fear in his voice, scrambling to his feet and making a run for it. The girl that had scared Burt off walked up to Nick and started picking up some of his books for him as Nick picked himself up._

"_Wow. Thanks," Nick said to the girl. "Why was he so scared of you?"_

"_He'd heard rumors of the special karate classes I've been taking, but apparently, he didn't really believe they were true," the girl responded._

"_Either way, thanks for scaring him off," Nick replied, holding his hand out to the new arrival, who promptly shook his hand._

"_By the way, my name's May Iwakura," the girl stated. "Would you like to be friends?"_

"_Sure," Nick replied. "Anyone who can do THAT to Burt is a winner in my book." With that, Nick finally picked up the last of his books._

"_Okay, let's get you to class," May noted, leading Nick towards his next class._

"May really saved my butt that day," Nick replied.

"Okay, guys, I'm ready to swim!" May called out, coming back downstairs in an orange-and-black one-piece swimsuit.

Suddenly, Nick heard a beeping upstairs. Someone was trying to call him on his X-Powder, which he'd hooked to his phone line a couple weeks ago.

"You girls go ahead and get some swimming in. I'll be right there," Nick stated, dashing upstairs.

Inside Nick's room, his X-Powder was beeping like mad. Nick quickly opened up, looking at the screen, which displayed a random assortment of jumbled letters.

"Oh. Looks like someone sent me a message in secret code," Nick noted, pressing a green button on his X-Powder. A second later, the letters began rearranging themselves as the X-Powder began decoding the secret message.

A few seconds later, a loud beep rang out as the decoding finished. Unfortunately, when he saw the decoded message, he gave out a loud gasp of shock.

"No... no, that can't be..." Nick gasped, picking up his X-Powder and bolting downstairs and out of the house.

May dove underwater, relying on her gracefulness and agility to put on a good show for Sam and Haruka.

"Wow, girl, you're pretty good," Sam noted as May came back up for air.

"I guess after being on the track team for so long, you get used to stuff like this," was May's simple reply.

That was when May noticed that Haruka had gone missing. May simply smirked, tensing up.

The exact second Haruka (who had dove underwater for a surprise attack) surfaced and lunged at May, she gracefully dodged and retaliated with a powerful arm sweep attack that left the other two girls completely drenched.

"How'd you see me coming?" Haruka asked while brushing off the splash.

"I could hear you from the other side of the pool," May replied. "I attribute that to my martial arts training."

"Really?" Sam asked. "What style do you prefer to use?"

"You know, I never really thought of that..." May pondered. "Sometimes I prefer to use Shotokan karate. That's the style I grew up with. But, other times, I like using Tai Ji Quan martial arts. Nick taught me that style."

Suddenly, Haruka heard some rapid footsteps. "Who's making all that noise?"

Nick made a run for it, not even noticing that he'd dropped his X-Powder on his way down. Completely forgetting about the girls, and the secret message still ringing in his head, Nick stormed out the door, earning a few looks of confusion from Sam, May, and Haruka.

"Where's Nick going?" May asked. "I thought he wanted to swim with us!"

"Is it me, or did he look a little freaked out to you guys?" Haruka asked, walking back towards the spot where Nick had dropped his X-Powder, a towel wrapped around her body.

"Hey, he dropped his X-Powder... he must be in a real hurry, whatever that..." was about as far as Haruka got as she read the decoded message that was still on the screen of Nick's X-Powder.

"Okay, girls, we _officially_ have a problem!" Haruka shouted, racing back to the girls.

"What's the matter, Haruka?" Sam asked.

"Look at this!" Haruka exclaimed, thrusting Nick's X-Powder towards Sam and May, who read the message on display:

"**To Nick Kelly:  
****I have your beloved cousin Dawn as my hostage. You will come to the 9th Street Pier in twenty minutes or you will never see her alive again."**

(Mathew's P.O.V.)

I had just got up and decided to have a morning shave of my chin. When I came downstairs, only Sam was outside in the pool waiting.

"Out here again, Sam?" I asked.

"Mm-hmm," Sam responded.

"But I got a feeling that something bad has happened."

That's when I noticed another girl I didn't recall seeing before.

"Sam, we've got a problem here," she said to her.

"Wait a sec," I said.

"Just who the heck are you?"

"Nick will explain once we find him," Sam said to me, climbing out of the pool.

"Now come on, Mathew... We've got to get Clover, Alex and the others up and tell them we've got another emergency."

_Somewhere in the city..._

Not daring to look back, lest he lose time, Nick only began to speed up as best he could, racing towards the 9th Street Pier to save his cousin. He didn't even know that his spy friends were chasing him, shouting for him to explain just where the heck he was going.

"Dawn... I don't know what this freak's done to you, but I swear to god I'm going to make him pay," Nick said to himself, hanging a sharp right at the downtown intersection, taking him into the city.

"Holy cow, he's going so fast that I can't even keep up with him anymore!" Alex exclaimed, and she was usually the athletic one of the group.

"Then let's split into teams and try to track him down," Nozomi explained. "Alex, you go with Sam, Clover and May and check downtown. Mat, Bridget, Haruka, you guys are coming with me. We're going by the wharf."

Once everyone had grouped into Nozomi's suggested teams, they split and headed towards their destination.

Nick checked his watch, no small feat at the speed he was going. According to said watch, he only had about five minutes left to make it to the pier, which was all the motivation Nick needed to kick it into overdrive.

In a few more minutes, he'd reached the 9th Street Pier, desperately searching for an entrance. Soon enough, he'd found a door that held a sign no doubt addressed to him.

"Guess I found my way in," Nick said to himself. Wasting no more time than was necessary, Nick brought his foot up, and in one swift kick, the door to the 'lair' was down.

Inside was a tangled mess of computer consoles, with a man standing by the central console. Nick couldn't see who it was, since the dark and dankness of the pier was keeping the man in the shadows.

To the other side, Nick could see a girl tied up; a girl with long, wavy violet hair that reached down to her waist, along with a pink and blue blouse and dress combo. The pink and white scarf wrapped around her neck was a dead giveaway as to her identity.

"Well, well," the shadowed man stated. "I was almost beginning to think you wouldn't show."

"Stow it, you jackass," Nick shot back, raising his fist. "Let Dawn go or else you're going to _get it_."

"Oh, Nick. I thought you knew me better. I never capture hostages alone. I always go for pairs."

"What?" Nick exclaimed, but that was when he noticed another girl next to Dawn, both struggling to break free of their bindings. The second girl was wearing a pink t-shirt covered by a blue sweater, and a light blue skirt that reached down to just above her knees. Her hair was a mix of orange and brown, and fell down to her waist, and her eyes were same shade of brown as Nick's. Nick gave a gasp of shock as soon as he'd recognized the second girl.

"Melissa..."

Nick quickly turned back to the shadowed man. "You shadow-dipped son of a bitch, y_ou took my sister, too?!_"

"I'd prefer to have company when the Zero Requiem begins."

Nick immediately made a break for the two girls, only to be stopped by the returning voice of the shadowed man.

"Ah, ah. I wouldn't do that if I were you. One more step towards them and they'll pay the price."

Nick stood rooted to the spot, secretly charging his attack. "All right, what do you want?"

"All I prefer is for you to ally with me. Together, we could conquer the world!"

Nick just flashed a playful grin. "Just who do you think I am?! _FINAL SHINE ATTACK!_" Nick shouted, raising his right hand and unleashing a concentrated blast of neon-green psychic power that blasted the strange man clear into a nearby computer console.

Nick took advantage of the moment of distraction to run over and untie his cousin and sister.

"Nick? What the heck did you just do to that guy?" Dawn asked as Nick undid the bindings holding the two girls.

"I'll explain later. Right now, we need to get out of here before recovers from that!" Nick responded.

Suddenly, the shadowed man began stirring, and Nick could hear a series of familiar voices coming from the nearby door, which quickly gave way to reveal the rest of the spies.

"Why didn't you wait for us, Nick?" Alex asked.

"To be fair, villains don't usually wait on ultimatums," Nick responded, turning his attention to the mysterious figure. "Right, you asshole?!"

The shadowed man just snickered as he picked himself back up. "You apparently don't seem to understand the position you're in."

"Oh, you'd like me to believe that, _wouldn't you_?" Nick growled, his psychic aura bursting to life around him.

"Um..." Clover asked, just now noticing the two new girls. "Who are these two?"

"Long story short, the girl with blue hair is Dawn, my cousin, and the girl with orange-ish hair is Melissa, my sister," Nick explained. "You girls need to get them out of here before this gets ugly!"

"I'll take care of that. Come on, girls, let's let the professionals handle things here," Haruka giggled, rushing over to Dawn and Melissa and leading them towards the door.

"Hey, hey, at least tell me if Nick's gonna be all right!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Trust me, he's used to things like this," Haruka responded. "Let's just leave it to him."

Back on the battlefield, Nick stared down the shadowed man.

"Why don't we just put an end to this?" Nick stated.

"Funny," the shadowed man responded. "I was about to suggest the same thing."

Not wasting any time, Nick rushed forward, lashing out into a spinning kick that the shadowed man couldn't dodge in time, knocking him straight into yet another computer.

However, unseen to Nick, the shadowed man had tossed out something that had landed on Nick's back.

"Now are you gonna knock it off before I have to get nasty?" Nick challenged. The shadowed man was silent.

"I thought so."

And with that, Nick ran out of the lair to rejoin his spy friends.

"Nick, do you have any idea how worried I was?" Alex exclaimed, pulling Nick into a tight hug.

"I could probably take a wild guess," Nick laughed, quickly returning the hug.

However, just then, the mysterious device that the shadowed man had tossed activated, covering Nick in an electrical field that shocked him into unconsciousness.

"NICK, NO!" Alex screamed.

"Hold it!" Haruka spoke before Alex could even move a muscle.

"Whaddya got, Haruka?" Sam asked.

As Haruka moved even closer, she could see the electric device on the unconscious Nick's back.

"He's fine, but I see something on his back," Haruka replied. "Does anyone have anything to clip it off?" She asked the group.

"Try grabbing it with your hand first," Sam suggested. "If you're shocked, I've got a rubber glove in my backpack, and I'll get it."

"All right, then," Haruka replied.

(Alex's P.O.V.)

I watched in grief as Haruka carefully reached her hand in on the electric device on Nick's back.

_Please let her grab it_, I thought.

Just when she was about to touch it, Haruka's hand was electrocuted. She came back, holding it.

"Guess I better try the old rubber touch," Sammy replied, putting on her rubber glove.

She tried it out, and was able to successfully pull it off of Nick's back.

"Rubber always works," she said.

"Okay, what next?" Mathew asked.

"We send this to Jerry for an analysis," Sam answered.

"And hope we get something good from him," Clover added.

(Nick's P.O.V.)

My eyes slowly opened, trying to adjust themselves after I had gotten the literal shock of my life.

The first thing I noticed was that I was back at WOOHP, on one of those uncomfortable as _heck_ steel operating tables.

"Hey, he's awake!" I heard Haruka exclaimed, and was just as quickly near-tackled by Alex.

"You feeling all right, Nick?" Alex asked, her arms around me.

"Mostly. My head still hurts a bit, but I should be okay," I responded, returning the hug. "The last thing I remember was walking out of that place, and suddenly I saw a bit of a spark... then, nothing."

"Whoever that guy was, he probably threw something on you that electrocuted you when you walked out of there," May answered. I suddenly realized that she was in a spy suit like ours. Her color was orange, apparently. It fits.

"You're a spy now, May?" I asked.

"Yep," May giggled. "Jerry asked if I wanted to give it a shot, considering you're a friend of mine."

"Are you feeling well enough to travel, Nick?" Jerry asked.

"I should be," I stated, hopping to my feet. "My back's kinda sore, but it's nothing I haven't handled before."

"Good. We're picking up some strange energy signals in Egypt," Jerry explained, gesturing to the viewscreen. "One of the pyramids there is outputting a very odd energy signature, and we'd like you all to investigate."

"On it, Jerry!" we all exclaimed. The girls and I used our X-Powders to switch into our spy suits, while Mat used his GBA SP to change into his motocross outfit.

Jerry suddenly smiled. "Good luck, spies."

Acting quickly, I surrounded us with a protective psychic barrier before Jerry could drop us through the floor.

"You're slipping, Jerry," I teased.

"There's always next time," Jerry responded as I dispelled the bubble and we all landed in the Skyskimmer.

**6:51 A.M. - Somewhere Over the Skies of Egypt**

**("Flowing Star Sand" by Mahito Yokota & Ryo Nagamatsu plays)**

"Approaching Egypt," Mat stated.

"All right, let's take a look," I proclaimed, slipping on my Cyberjacker Sunglasses and taking a look at the pyramids. I figured, since the pyramids don't normally (if ever) put out weird energy signals like this, I figured someone must be messing around with some equipment in there.

"Bingo!"

"Got something, Nick?" Alex asked.

"That pyramid over there is generating some very unusual frequencies. It sounds like someone's chatting in there, but I can't quite make out what they're saying," I explained. "We should go in and crash their party."

"Best idea I've heard all day," Sam and Haruka stated at exactly the same time.

Leaving the Skyskimmer on autopilot, we all powered up our Jetpack Backpacks and shot towards the pyramid I'd identified.

"It looks pretty normal and dusty to me," Clover noted.

"Have the Cyberjacker Sunglasses ever steered you wrong?" I teased.

Before Clover could respond to that, something shot from the ground, nearly missing us.

Before anyone could query, another laser bolt shot right at us, but I quickly deflected it with a short burst of psychic energy.

"Evasive maneuvers, they're firing on us!" I shouted.

"I have an idea," Mathew replied, looking at me. "Nick, how long can you, Dawn, and Haruka distract them?"

"We'll do our best!" Dawn giggled. "Just leave it to us!"

"Alright, let's work fast at this," I said to the girls.

Sam and the rest of us flew away from Nick, Haruka and Dawn.

"I hope they can distract them long enough," Alex replied.

"If they can, how will they know where to find us?" Clover asked.

"Simple, we don't stray far from them to a point where they'll have trouble finding us," Mathew replied.

"Think we'll need extra help from Britney?" Alex asked.

(Nick's P.O.V.)

"I just put in the call," May stated. "Britney will be here just as soon as she can. She just finished a mission with Megan and Yuki, so that's why she'll be delayed a bit."

"As long as she gets here, that's good enough for me!" Clover proclaimed.

"Is Clover always like that?" Dawn asked me.

"She's just impatient. We've been through quite a few missions in the past couple days, and it's kinda taking its toll on all of us," I explained, deflecting a few laser shots with more well-timed psychic bursts. "In fact, when we get back to WOOHP, I'm gonna ask Jerry if we can take a few days off. I REALLY need the rest."

Not wasting any time, I quickly pinpointed what was firing at us, and began to charge my psychic energy in my right hand until it began to glow green instead of its usual yellow.

"Suck on _this_, sniper dude! _FINAL SHINE ATTACK!_" I shouted, releasing my gathered energy in the form of a massive, pulsing neon beam that thundered from my palm and easily destroyed the turrets that were firing on us.

"Oh, that was AWESOME!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Trust me, you'll get to see more of my talents when we find whoever's messing with us," I stated. "Now let's get into that pyramid and take care of business."

Minutes later, we caught up with Sam and the others.

"Oh, you guys were able to hold them at bay?" Mathew asked.

"Definitely," Dawn answered.

"Piece of cake," Haruka added.

"Wonder if Jerry's got something on whatever that... thing that was on your back," Sam wondered.

Just then, her X-Powder rang.

"Indeed I do," Jerry replied. "So, how's the mission going, ladies... and gentlemen?"

"Despite distractions, we haven't found much," Mathew replied.

"I know where you're going at," Jerry replied. "Why don't you spies come back and I'll inform you of what I found."

"AWESOME!" We all cheered.

"I know the first place I'm going once Jerry finishes briefing us," Sam replied.

Before the spies could head off, however, Sam's X-Powder rang again. Thinking it was Jerry, Sam quickly answered it, only to see someone unfamiliar on the other end.

"Who... who are you?" Sam asked whoever was calling her.

"Never you mind that," the shadowed figure responded. The figure was so cloaked in darkness that it was impossible to make out any of the features, and the voice was being modulated so Sam couldn't run a vocal scan to determine who was talking.

"I will not have you interfering with our plans," the figure proclaimed. "So I must keep you busy until we are able to finish our business. I hope you've had fun with your little spy games, because this is where your game _ends_."

And with that, the transmission was cut. Almost two seconds after the call was cut, a gigantic robot dropped down from seemingly nowhere. It was a very spherical robot, with no legs (it was floating by unknown means) and it had two hulking hammers for arms.

**("Megahammer" by Mahito Yokota & Ryo Nagamatsu plays)**

"The signals from the pyramid didn't say anything about a welcoming committee!" Clover exclaimed.

"That thing didn't come from the pyramid," Mat noted, taking a look at his GBA SP. "This robot was dropped from this odd-looking helicopter a few minutes ago."

"And it thinks it's going to smash us into dust particles?" Nick challenged, his psychic aura flaring to life around him. "Fat chance of _that_!"

Nick immediately broke into a sprint, circling the robot while peppering it with rapid-fire psychic energy bursts, none of which seemed to do any noticeable damage.

Alex quickly whipped out her X-Powder as Nick continued to circle the immense machine. After about twenty seconds of scanning, Alex looked towards Nick.

"Nick, I can see three weak spots on that thing!" Alex exclaimed. "Try aiming for those blue glass orb things!"

As per his girlfriend's instructions, Nick charged up and fired a bolt of psychic energy at one of the two glass cases on the front of the robot. This one did the trick, cracking the case. After a full circle around the robot, Nick fired another bolt, shattering the case.

"Jackpot!" Nick exclaimed.

Just then, one of the robot's hammer hands came smashing down to the sands in front of Nick, which would have flattened him had he not skidded to a stop.

"Too close for my palette," Nick noted before firing another bolt into the second glass case, cracking it easily.

After a couple circuits, Nick managed to shatter the second case, leaving only the one on the robot's back.

The problem? The damned thing wouldn't stay still long enough for Nick to get a clear shot.

Luckily, Alex was thinking quickly, reaching into her Jetpack Backpack and pulling out a gadget she never thought would actually be useful in a situation like this.

"Eat this, Terminator ripoff!" Alex shouted, tossing the can down onto the ground under the robot. Nick picked up on the idea quickly, firing a bolt of psychic energy that pierced the can and caused the Tornado in a Can of Hairspray to start up, a roaring whirlwind whipping up around the robot and spinning it around like mad.

When the winds died down, the robot had been slammed into the sands, with its final glass case exposed to a direct attack.

"FINISH THAT THING, NICK!" Haruka shouted.

"That was always the plan! _FINAL SHINE ATTACK!"_ Nick exclaimed, firing his signature attack into the glass casing, instantly breaking it and overloading the robot's circuits, causing it to explode on the spot.

"Owned," Nick proclaimed.

"Hey, guys, the signals from the pyramid just disappeared," Mat realized.

"And I'm willing to bet this has something to do with it," Nick stated, stepping into the wreckage of the robot and pulling out a tiny radio transmitter.

"Let's take this back to WOOHP and see if Jerry can trace it back to the source."

**9:49 A.M. - Downtown Paris, France**

"Ah, France..." Clover swooned, gazing down at the city of love. "I've always wanted to come here..."

"You were here last week, remember?" Haruka teased. "You started swooning over that one guy at the baguette stand?"

"Let's remember why we're here, girls," Nick responded. "That transmitter we found in Egypt had a similar energy signature coming from here in Paris. Whoever contacted Sammy must have a base somewhere around the world. So our first priority before Clover gets to check out any boys is to find this jerkoff."

"Aw, you're no fun, Nick," Clover pouted, with a wink to show she was only teasing.

"Hey, when we're done here, you can swoon all you want," Nick stated. "But for now, let's get to work!"

"I'll go on ahead, guys!" Melissa exclaimed, shooting off towards the residential district.

"Your sister's pretty energetic, huh?" Mat asked.

"She just likes a good adventure," Nick admitted as the rest of the spies shot off in separate directions to investigate.

Nick landed by the bay, deactivating his Jetpack Backpack when he reached solid ground.

"Okay, experience has taught me to investigate anything that glows," Nick noted, having noticed something glowing on the edge of the lake.

Before Nick could take a few steps, just as he'd expected, something emerged from the lake: an immense, elaborately-designed airship.

"Experience has also taught me that the best way to solve your problems is to kick robot butt," Nick stated as the airship began to coast down the bayside.

"All right, then, let's dance," Nick challenged as he rushed off after the airship, his psychic aura flaring to life around him.

(Sam's P.O.V.)

"Remind me to ask him how he learned that, Sam," Mathew said to me.

I could only nod my head in agreement. I was curious myself to how Nick learned those moves.

With Nick and Melissa leading the group, we followed along... staying alert in case of a certain trap. After that, I heard a pretty loud thunk.

"Was I the only one who heard that?" I asked the group.

"Heard what, Sam?" Alex asked.

"We didn't hear it," Clover replied.

"I think I heard it," Mathew replied.

"We were so busy leading the group I didn't even pay attention," Nick replied.

"I know what I heard," I replied.

"We don't doubt you, Sam," Haruka replied.

The airship began firing missiles at Nick and the spies, but Nick deflected most of them with well-timed psychic bursts.

"Hello?! Evil airship, trying to kill us, _why is it trying to kill us_?!" Haruka exclaimed.

"How about we figure it out when we're done dismantling it?" Alex proclaimed.

Nick took his chance, firing a burst into the ground so he could propel himself upwards, straight onto the airship.

After a bit of running, Nick was ready to give the pilot of this airship what for, but when he reached the cockpit...

"Um, girls? There's no one flying this thing!" Nick exclaimed.

"What? Are you sure?" Mat asked.

"It's like this thing is on autopilot," Alex responded.

"Whatever the case, I'm putting this thing out of its misery _right now_," Nick stated, hopping back to solid ground and charging up his signature move.

"Let's end this! _FINAL SHINE ATTACK!_" Nick shouted, firing the emerald beam into the airship, making sure to hop to safe ground so he didn't get caught in the ensuing explosion that ripped the airship apart, many of the pieces falling into the bay.

One of the pieces fell into Nick's hands. "Hey, this is another transmitter!"

"Weird," Alex noted. "You think this mystery person is up to something?"

"Probably," I replied. "Let's call Jerry and see if he can analyze this."

"Jerry, come in," Nick stated.

"Hello, spies," Jerry said in his calm tone.

"We found this in the plane we investigated," Nick told him, showing the transmitter in Jerry's screen.

"I'm preparing to analyze it now," Jerry said as he sent a beam to grab the transmitter.

"Well, call us when you have something," I told him as Nick closed his DS.

"So now what?" Mathew asked.

"Well, maybe we could get a break from all this?" Clover suggested. "This hot weather's making it murder on my complexion... and I'm anxious to get wet in the pool."

"I second that," Haruka spoke up.

"Well, guess it's unanimous," I said to the group. "Head back for now, wait for Jerry to buzz us."

"Farewell, Paris," Clover said, dramatically. "For we shall return... eventually."

**12:18 p.m. – Spies' Villa**

After heading back home to good old Beverly Hills, Clover did just what she wanted and headed straight for the pool, using her X-powder to switch her outfit to her swimsuit. Haruka did the same, as did the rest of us.

"I wonder when we're going to hear from Jerry," I said to the group.

"Hopefully soon," Nick replied.

"Anyone up for pizza delivery while we wait for Jer?" Clover suggested.

"Okay, anchovies!" Sam exclaimed.

"You're out of your freaking mind, Sammy!" Nick shouted. "Who in the world eats little tiny fish that stink to high hell and back?!"

"But you LOVE fish, Nick!" Clover shot back. "Don't deny it!"

"Just because you saw me eating fish sticks that one time doesn't mean it!" Nick continued. "Fish _sticks_ are completely different things!"

"Okay, how about pepperoni and olives?" Melissa asked.

"ACK!" May responded, faking a gagging noise. "Why is it always olives with you people?!"

"Hey, I LIKE olives!" Melissa shot back. "So _there_!"

"Don't diss one of my favorite toppings, May," Mat proclaimed.

"You LIKE that crapola?!" May exclaimed.

"May I make a suggestion of mushrooms?" Dawn interjected.

"Stay out of it, Dawn!" May and Melissa shouted together.

"Oh, just because I like exotic toppings on my pizza?" Dawn growled, pushing her forehead angrily against Melissa's.

"Black peppers!" Bridget shouted.

"No way! Those things burned the roof of my mouth once!" Alex shot back. "I've never trusted peppers since!"

"How about this, you guys?" Nozomi asked, having just come back from her big brother's house. "How about you order a combo pizza, one of those huge twenty-four inchers? I know this pizza place a few blocks from my house that has kick-ass pizzas at an economical price!"

"Do they mean 'economical' as in fair or disguised?" Alex responded.

"The first one, obviously. Do you not trust pizza places, Alex?"

Alex looked out the window. "This one pizza joint ripped me off when I was a kid. I've learned since only to trust the ones that can back up their claims."

"Well, then, trust me, Alex, you're in good hands. I've been there _so much_ since I came to Beverly Hills, so I can vouch for their quality," Nozomi giggled.

"The way you're making it sound, Nozomi, I guess I'll have to see it for myself," Alex continued.

"OKAY!" Nozomi proclaimed, whipping out her cell phone. "I've got a good chunk of change saved up, so this pizza's on me. What do you guys want on it?"

"STUFFED CRUST!" everyone shouted.

"One side meat lovers!" Nick exclaimed.

"One side mushrooms and pineapple!" Alex exclaimed.

"WHAT?!" Sam shouted. "Who puts PINEAPPLE on a pizza?!"

"The Hawaiians, for one!" Clover shot back.

"Don't diss the pineapple, Clover!" Bridget responded.

"Well, this could take a while," Nick stated to himself. "I think I'll slip away while the getting's good."

With that, Nick snuck up to his room while everyone else argued about pizza toppings. Nozomi just watched the debacle while smiling.

While laying down on his bed, Nick gazed out the bedroom window. The sun was beginning to set, casting a glow on the horizon.

"Something about all this doesn't add up, damn it," Nick thought out loud. "We've been to three countries already, and every time we've been ambushed by freaky robots each holding a transmitter. My question is, what, who, or where are they transmitting _to_?"

"Everything okay up here?" Alex's voice responded as she poked into the room.

"Pretty much," Nick replied as Alex walked in and sat down by him. "I'm just trying to figure things out. This isn't like any other case we've been on. I'm still curious as to what these crazy robots are transmitting to..."

"We'll crack it," Alex giggled, leaning forward to kiss Nick on the cheek. "We always do in the end."

Just then, Nick's X-Powder began to beep. Not wasting any time, he reached into his pocket to flip it open.

"Is that you, Nick?" Jerry asked through the video function.

"Loud and clear, Jerry," Nick responded. "What's up?"

"We have your next destination," Jerry responded. "You and the gang are off to Japan."

"How's that for lucky, Nick?" Alex exclaimed. "You get to see home again!"

"By the way," Jerry continued. "We analyzed the voice-prints we took from whoever contacted you in Egypt, and, well... does this person look familiar to you?"

An image appeared on the X-Powder screen. Nick gasped in complete surprise.

"No freaking WAY," Nick gasped. "That _couldn't_ be HIM, could it?"

Alex took a look and she was shocked as well. "We gotta warn the others," She said to Nick.

"Hold on a sec," Nick shot back. "Should we?"

"If he's the bad guy, I don't know if we really have a choice," Alex noted.

"All right..." _I just know I'm not going to like this..._

(Sam's P.O.V.)

Clover, Haruka, and the others were tackling each other while Mathew and I snuck in some kisses on deck. That's when we heard the doorbell.

"I'll get it," I said, running off.

It was Nozomi with her hands full of pizza boxes. Our food had come, and I went upstairs to let Alex and Nick know.

"Guys, the pizzas are here," I told them.

"Great," Alex said. "I'm ready to dig into some..."

"Then let's get it while it's hot," I told them.

(Nick's P.O.V.)

I decided to wait until everyone had their fill of pizza to tell them the news. I wouldn't want to ruin the meal, would I?

Once everyone had dried their hands of the pizza grease (ick), I cleared my throat to get the group's attention.

"Did Jerry figure anything out?" Clover asked.

I sighed heavily, and showed the others the image on my X-Powder.

"Is that our villain du jour?" Sam wondered.

"Hey, he looks a lot like you, Nick," Mat noted.

"Yeah, almost looks like he could be your brother!" Clover exclaimed.

"He _is_ our brother," Melissa answered, her face tense. "Nick, is that image for real?"

"I'm afraid so, Melissa," I responded.

"Wait, wait, hold up, what's going on here?" Clover interjected. "Do you two have a history with this kid?"

I sighed again. This was one story I hoped I wouldn't have to tell anyone.

"You may not like this story, girls," I stated. "And boys," he quickly added to Mat. "But if my brother is the one behind all of this, then I guess I don't have any other choice."

"It was a good few years ago, way before our family moved from Japan to here," Melissa started. "We used to have a brother, Nick and I."

"The sad news is, Kevin died when we were only five," I continued, noticing that a few tears were falling from Melissa's eye.

"The report was that he had been mugged, but that wasn't the whole truth," Melissa stated, her voice breaking up at points. "We were walking to school when some hoodlum jumped us."

"I tried my best to defend Melissa and Kevin, but that jerk knocked both of us out," I continued, trying not to cry myself. "By the time we woke up, Kevin was already dead."

"Wait just a second here," Sam interjected. "If he's dead, how come Jerry's reports peg him as our next nutcase?"

"You think it could be a clone?" Bridget wondered, still shuddering every time she heard that word. Not too long ago, during our previous mission, Macker the Safecracker had created a clone of her deceased brother Jeremy that had literally stabbed her in the back. Bridget probably wouldn't even be here right now if I hadn't been there.

Surprisingly to the others, I shook my head. "Jerry's reports indicated that this _is_ my brother Kevin. The DNA tests were a hundred percent conclusive. What I don't understand is how he's still alive..."

"Well, I guess that's what we'll have to find out," Alex proclaimed, striking a cute pose. This brought six sets of eyes to stare at her in confusion.

"What?"

Just as Clover was about to make a witty response, explosions began to rock the villa, sending all of us into a crashing tumble.

"Jeez, enough earthquakes already!" Clover shouted.

"Good thing Jerry reinforced the structures since that last mission," I noted as we all rushed outside to face our latest attacker.

The gigantic mech that towered twice the height of our villa wasn't anything that was familiar to me, but when I got a good look at the machine's pilot, I immediately knew why.

The person piloting that machine was my brother Kevin.

"How appropriate that I'd find all of you here," Kevin growled. I _definitely_ didn't like that look on his face.

"Kevin, what's the deal?!" I shouted. "You were never like this before!"

"How about you shut your mouth before I shut it myself?" Kevin shot back. "I have nothing to say to either of you."

"Can't we just talk this out, Kevin?" Melissa asked, hoping to knock some sense into Kevin.

The machine he was piloting just swiped at all of us.

"Forget it! The two of you are dead to me. You left me to die that day, and it is something I will _never_ forgive!" Kevin shouted, his machine retreating down the street.

Not wasting any time, I threw my arms outwards, and my psychic aura sprung to life around me.

"Okay, so we're going to do this the hard way, huh?" I growled, shooting off down the streets, leaving the others to catch up.

(Sam's P.O.V.)

"I don't need three guesses to figure out that's not Nick's late brother," Mathew told us.

"Neither do we," I interjected.

"Let's help!" Alex inquired.

"Come here, you little..." Nick growled, leaping forward to attack only to get swatted away each time. "Stop playing hard to get!"

"No, I will not cease!" Kevin shouted. "I will _never_ forgive you for what you've done!"

Nick rolled under another swipe and fired a psychic burst at the machine, wobbling it slightly.

"Jeez, what is this thing made of?!" Nick shouted.

I noticed he was right. Nick's psychic blasts can usually cut through anything.

"Okay, let's try this now," Nick noted, drawing his hand back.

"Please," Kevin sneered. "My robot has been configured with psychosis-resistant armor. Your psychic hooey can't hurt me."

"Try _this_, then!" Nick exclaimed, not really noticing how Kevin knew about his psychic powers. _"__FINAL SHINE ATTACK!__"_

A bright, lime-green energy beam burst from Nick's right hand, blasting forward and tearing a nicely-sized hole in the machine's armor.

"Damn you! Don't consider this our last meeting!" Kevin shouted as the robot retreated.

"Well, he'll be back," Nick said to us.

"That he will," Mathew agreed.

"You know, I'll bet that Macker the Safecracker's behind this again," I told the group.

"And I'll bet a hundred bucks that she's right," Mathew added.

"For now, we should enjoy our pizzas while they're fresh," Alex suggested.

"I have a feeling this is the calm before the next storm," Mathew inserted.

"Tell me about it," I said. "Anyway, should we eat inside, or should we eat poolside?" I asked the others.

(Nick's P.O.V.)

"POOL!" we all unanimously shouted. It was another sweltering summer day, and I'm starting to sweat through my shorts. That's not even funny!

As we sat by the pool and munched, I suddenly realized something. I quickly grabbed my X-Powder and dialed Jerry.

"Is everything okay over there?" Jerry asked on the video.

"Jerry, we just got attacked by Kevin, and everyone thinks Macker's behind it again," I explained.

"I'm not entirely sure about that, Nick," Jerry answered. "Macker has been locked up ever since your last mission."

I groaned at his name, glad that he was still in jail, especially after trying to destroy our city and WOOHP at the same time.

Suddenly, Jerry's words registered in my head.

"Wait, he's still locked up?" I stated, catching everyone's attention. "Now that you mention it, Macker never knew that I had a brother. Something isn't right here..."

"There goes that idea, huh?" Alex noted.

"I guess that's something we're going to have to look into," I replied. "Thanks again, Jerry." And with that, I cut the transmission.

"So, what are we going to do, Nick?" Sam asked.

"We're going to finish our pizza, and then we're going on a little field trip," I responded. "It's time we got some intel on what's going on."

(Sam's P.O.V.)

"Okay, we've got to start putting two and two together," said Haruka.

"I agree," said Nick.

"Where are we heading?" asked Clover. "Paris, I hope."

"There's got to be a lot of hope in that department, I think," said Mathew.

"Seems like it," said Haruka.

"Stopping Macker is on our priority list," said Alex.

"We should be close," I said after quite a bit of time.

"Hope so," said Mathew.

"I'm anxious to know how we're going to stop Macker," said Haruka.

"Forming a plan there will take a bit once we get there," I said.

(Nick's P.O.V.)

To be honest, I was worried.

As we made our way to Japan to find the next transmission hotspot, I started thinking about certain things.

Namely, why is the brother I thought was dead still alive and trying to kill us?

I know I'm not going to get any answers until we find Kevin and stop whatever he's trying to do, but...

...you know what, let's just focus on the here and now. Let's actually _find_ Kevin before I wring some answers out of him.

"Ah, home sweet home, we meet again," I couldn't help but state when we reached our destination. "Just standing here's already bringing back memories..."

"So, where exactly did you live, Nick?" Alex wondered. "You've never told us that specific bit."

"Well, to be honest..."

"I found you!"

Of _course_ he's right on schedule. I reached into my Jetpack Backpack and brandished my Wind Tunnel 9000 as Kevin dropped down from the sky, still piloting the same strange robot from before. I could even still see the hole I'd blasted in its armor, how about that?

"All right, Kevin, just cut to the chase," I growled. "I'd really like to just blast that robot of yours to hell and be done with it."

"Oh, so callous towards your own family, eh?" Kevin cackled.

"Kevin, you need to stop this!" Melissa shouted. "What happened to the brother we used to know?!"

"He no longer exists!" Kevin exclaimed, the robot coming to life. "After you left me to die, you deserve no sympathy from me!"

The robot came quickly to life, opening ports on either side to spew a barrage of blades. That in mind, I made an executive decision.

"SCATTER!" I shouted. Thankfully, everyone had been ready, and they all dove off to the side to avoid the blades.

"Why won't you just accept your fate?!" Kevin exclaimed, firing off more blades. I'm seriously getting sick of this!

"_FINAL SHINE ATTACK!"_ I shouted, firing off a great jade beam of light from my right palm, straight into the hole I'd made in the robot during our last battle. This caused the robot to spark before eventually tearing itself apart in a powerful explosion, though Kevin had escaped before the explosion could take him with it.

Eventually, once the dust had settled from the destroyed robot, Kevin reappeared, wielding a wickedly-sharp combat knife and an eerily creepy expression.

Seriously, it's creeping me out!

**("Boss Battle ~Half-Genie Hero ver.~" by Jake Kaufman plays)**

"Do you honestly think I'm going to back off just because you destroyed one of my robots?" Kevin laughed.

"Not even close," I shot back, channeling psychic energy into my arm, and forming a sort-of, well, "energy blade" that surrounded my hand. "The old saying is 'put up or shut up'. So, Kevin, let's see what you've got!"

And with that, we rushed to meet the other, our weapons clashing against each other multiple times from different angles.

Kevin tried to stab that blade of his into my head, but I simply ducked to the side and struck back, finally landing my mark and tearing a gash in that strange suit of his.

"Now _snap out of it_, Kevin!" I shouted. "This isn't who you are!"

"You turn your hand against your own blood," Kevin gasped rather melodramatically. "Now witness how I turn my hand against yours."

Before I could even react, Kevin shifted position and tossed his knife away.

Now, I'm really wishing I'd reacted faster than I had at that moment.

I only had a split-second after the throw to hear the sickening sound of sharp steel sinking into human flesh. My head whipped back so fast I'm surprised that I didn't give myself whiplash, only to see exactly what I'd feared.

My vision just about went completely red as I saw Alex vainly attempt to reach for the blade that had embedded itself in her chest before falling to her knees, unable to do much but fight through the pain.

I didn't hear the panicked cries of my fellow friends and spies as they all rushed to Alex's aid, even as she lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

But...

...when I saw the small trail of blood that came from Alex's wound, where the knife had struck her, I won't lie to you, I freakin' _lost my mind_.

My psychic aura exploded into existence around my body, surrounding me with a curtain of light so bright that it illuminated the area around me and cracked the ground under me from the sheer force alone. My eyes practically flared with a bright red light. Almost _literally_, as I swear all I could see was blood myself.

All I could focus on was Kevin, and my intent to tear him to pieces, possibly with my bare hands.

(Sam's P.O.V.)

"Go get 'em, Nick," I said to him.

Nick seemed very confident in stopping Kevin.

In the meantime, we were doing everything we could to not let Alex's wound get any worse.

"I hope this will stop the bleeding," said Haruka, using a lot of tissue she had brought along to cover up Alex's knife wound.

"I'm sure it will," said Mathew.

"Keep the pressure on as the tourniquet," I then said.

(Haruka's P.O.V.)

Now I'm infinitely glad that I decided to take a first aid class. Alex is out cold, but hopefully we can stop the bleeding.

As the rest of us kept up our work on fixing Alex up, I occasionally cast a glance back at whatever was happening between Nick and Kevin.

I'm not gonna lie to you, I've never seen Nick this angry before, not even when Bridget had been stabbed. The way his psychic aura is shimmering, and that look in his eyes...

I'm honestly scared of what Nick's gonna do while all that rage is clouding his sense of reason.

All right, Alex is all bandaged up and ready for transport back to WOOHP, and it looks like Sammy and Mat are taking care of calling Jerry.

Guess that leaves me to get Nick back down to earth before he does something he's gonna regret.

"Oh, what, are you angry because I stabbed your girlfriend?" Kevin cackled, only for Nick to move so fast I almost believed he'd phased out of existence itself for a brief second.

When I saw Nick again, he threw his fist straight into Kevin's stomach, causing him to double over in pain. And yeah, I heard that crack when it happened, too.

"She never did _anything_ to you!" Nick screamed. "She has _nothing_ to do with your stupid vendetta!"

"But see, that's the thing," Kevin laughed through his wheezing, as if that cracked rib wasn't hurting him at all. "What better way... to hurt my target... than to hurt those close to him?"

I couldn't help but cringe as Nick brought both of his fists down on Kevin's back, knocking him straight to the ground.

"You're going to regret _ever_ messing with me, you son of a bitch!" Nick shouted, forming another energy sword on his right hand, his intent painfully clear.

With that in mind, I moved, faster than I ever thought my legs could carry me, over there to pull Nick away before he fell too far.

"H-Haruka, what the hell are you doing?! Let go of me!" Nick shouted.

"Nick, listen," I stated firmly. "I understand you want to beat the jerk's teeth in, but please understand this. If you kill him, if you just murder him in cold blood, how are you any better?"

Needless to say, I definitely didn't expect his response.

"Don't give me _any_ of that self-righteous _bullcrap_!" Nick growled, knocking my hands away. "This bastard tried to kill my girlfriend, for no other reason than it _amused _him! I don't care anymore if he's my actually my brother or not, he deserves to die!"

"But that doesn't justify murder!" I shot back. "Look, he's clearly out of commission, so just let me call Jerry and we'll lock him up somewhere where he can't possibly escape."

"That's not gonna do any good!" Nick exclaimed. Why was I having so much trouble getting through to him? "Just sending him to prison won't atone for his crimes!"

"...Nick, what's wrong with you?"

"W-what?"

"Why do you think you need to kill him?" I stated as simply as I could. "You know it as well as I do, Nick."

"STOP TRYING TO DISSUADE ME!"

I only had about a split-second of warning before Nick's fist flew through the air and smashed into my face, sending me collapsing back to the ground.

I could only gaze back up at Nick and the unfettered rage clouding his eyes.

"I'm not going to be swayed by your words or _anyone else's_," Nick proclaimed. "So don't get in my way!"

Nick moved back to where Kevin lay, kicking him in the chest to make him roll onto his back.

And as he brought up his energy blade to strike that deadly blow, I could only reach out to my fellow spies, a desperate call for help to stop my best friend before he fell into the darkness.

Sam immediately stepped in.

"Nick, you think this is worth it?" she asked. "I understand how pissed you are, but think about this... you really think this is worth a criminal record over?"

Mathew was next.

"Hey, relax, man... just relax!" he said.

"Get real," said Nick. "It's very worth..."

He then second-guessed.

"Nick, come on!" I exclaimed. "They're right, this isn't worth it."

Nick abstained, but then listened.

"You stay away, then!" Nick then screamed to Kevin.

I sighed in relief.

"So, what's our new plan?" I asked.

To my surprise, Nick seemed to suddenly faint, his psychic aura fading away as he fell to the ground.

"Oh, jeez, now this, too?!" Clover exclaimed.

I kneeled down to check on him. Oh, thank god, he's just sleeping.

"I think he's just exhausted," I quipped.

I was about to go check on Alex's condition, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kevin reaching towards Nick, holding an odd weapon in his hands.

I was faster on the draw, quickly whipping out my Wind Tunnel 9000 and blasting that weapon out of Kevin's hands. Seriously, I've had enough of this nonsense today!

"I'm only going to warn you once, Kevin," I stated quite clearly. "Go on and beat it before I get angry, too."

Kevin just huffed, activating the teleporter thing on his wrist and vanishing in a dull flash.

Ah, just in time. I see Jerry's jet on the way!

Well, now that _that_ ordeal's over, here's hoping we can finally relax.

* * *

So, that's that for now, I suppose.

While WOOHP is taking care of Alex, we decided to head back to the villa and relax. I'm sure Clover's already in the pool as we speak.

I decided to stay with Nick until he woke up, hoping to get some answers as to why he acted the way he did against Kevin.

And judging from that gurgle (I always thought it was funny), he's probably waking up now.

"Urgwhahapen?"

"Speak words, Nick."

"H-Haruka?"

Nick sat up, looking a little disheveled, and after what just went down, I can't honestly blame him.

"You feeling okay?" I asked.

Nick just stared at his hands for a few seconds.

"Haruka... what the _hell_ just happened to me?"

"I can't honestly tell you," I replied. "All I can think is that when you saw Alex get hurt, you kinda lost yourself."

Nick suddenly jumped to his feet. "Alex! Where is she?!"

"Calm down, Nick, she's okay," I replied, hoping to get him to calm down. We _definitely_ don't want him flying off the handle again. "She's getting treated at WOOHP, and Jerry himself said that the wound wasn't that serious. Kevin was just trying to get into your head."

"And damned if it didn't almost _work_, too," Nick stated. "If... Haruka, I'm going to be honest with you, if you hadn't tried to stop me, I probably would have just ignored everything the girls said and straight-up killed him..."

"That's what I'm here for," I giggled. "Alex and I, _all_ of your friends here, we'll be your lifelines to pull you out of the darkness if you ever fall in."

"I'm just glad you got me back before I forgot that," Nick responded, pulling me into a hug. "Thank you so much, Haruka."

"Any time, Nick," I sighed, happy to see my best friend back to his usual self.

"There _is_ one thing that I've been wondering, though."

"What's that?"

Nick opened his X-Powder (I always wondered why Nick used one of them, since Mat uses what looks like a modified Game Boy Advance SP, but Nick just said it's what he prefers since he always goes with the girls) and launched a map program that showed off a few marked points.

Specifically, they were Egypt, Paris, and Japan, the three places we'd already been to over the course of our crusade against Kevin and whoever's directing his actions.

"I'm trying to figure out if there's a pattern with these strange transmitters we've found," Nick explained. "I can't seem to find a clear connection between the transmission spots. Maybe it might give us a clue as to Kevin's real objective..."

"...and I'll bet you're thinking that maybe it might lead us to whoever or whatever's making Kevin do all of this," I finished. "I didn't really know you had a brother until all of this began, but from what you and Melissa have said about him before, it's clear he wasn't like this back then."

"Hopefully," Nick stated. "Because I think we're out of leads at this point."

"Hey, that weird guy that contacted you back in Egypt mentioned something about South America, Asia, and Europe," I realized. "Maybe they're other transmission spots too?"

"Yeah, I never thought about that," Nick quipped. "If we add those spots, wherever they are, to the ones _we've_ been to, maybe we'll get a connection!"

"Wanna tell the others?"

"After we've let them have their relaxing time," Nick answered. "We've all been pretty stressed lately, considering all the trips we've made, and, of course, _that_..."

"How about _we_ hit the pool, then, too?" I offered. "I figure _you_ could definitely use the relaxing time after the crappy day you've had."

"No kidding," Nick laughed.

And so, we both changed into our swim gear and headed to the pool to join the rest of our fellow spies.

Before we stepped outside, I felt Nick hold my hand and squeeze it gently, a sign that he really appreciated my help.

I squeezed back, so Nick would know I'd be there for him no matter what, and we made our way outside.

_To be continued..._

* * *

On the next episode...

Nick: Well, it seems like everything's getting back to normal around here.

Sam: As normal as it gets for us.

Haruka: So, these strange transmission hotspots seem like they might be hiding something, and if we connect them to the ones we've been to, maybe we'll find a clue to all of this nonsense.

Clover: I hope so. I _really_ wanna go back to Paris!

Mat: Do you still have your eye on that guy at the baguette stand?

Clover: It's not my fault that he's more hunky than your average French guy!

Bridget: Save the crushy talk for later, Clover, we've got a job to do!

Haruka: Nick, if we run into Kevin again...

Nick: Don't worry, I'll keep myself under better control. I _definitely_ don't want a repeat of _that_. Next time on _Totally Spies!: Disillusioned Memories_, "Genesis of Evil"!

Alex: When am I gonna get _my_ time in the spotlight?!


	2. Genesis of Evil

_Previously on Disillusioned Memories..._

"There _is_ one thing that I've been wondering, though."

"What's that?"

Nick opened his X-Powder (I always wondered why Nick used one of them, since Mat uses what looks like a modified Game Boy Advance SP, but Nick just said it's what he prefers since he always goes with the girls) and launched a map program that showed off a few marked points.

Specifically, they were Egypt, Paris, and Japan, the three places we'd already been to over the course of our crusade against Kevin and whoever's directing his actions.

"I'm trying to figure out if there's a pattern with these strange transmitters we've found," Nick explained. "I can't seem to find a clear connection between the transmission spots. Maybe it might give us a clue as to Kevin's real objective..."

"...and I'll bet you're thinking that maybe it might lead us to whoever or whatever's making Kevin do all of this," I finished. "I didn't really know you had a brother until all of this began, but from what you and Melissa have said about him before, it's clear he wasn't like this back then."

"Hopefully," Nick stated. "Because I think we're out of leads at this point."

"Hey, that weird guy that contacted you back in Egypt mentioned something about South America, Asia, and Europe," I realized. "Maybe they're other transmission spots too?"

"Yeah, I never thought about that," Nick quipped. "If we add those spots, wherever they are, to the ones _we've_ been to, maybe we'll get a connection!"

"Wanna tell the others?"

"After we've let them have their relaxing time," Nick answered. "We've all been pretty stressed lately, considering all the trips we've made, and, of course, _that_..."

"How about _we_ hit the pool, then, too?" I offered. "I figure _you_ could definitely use the relaxing time after the crappy day you've had."

"No kidding," Nick laughed.

* * *

(Memories can be deceiving. They can be a benevolent ruler, or a cruel mistress. But what happens when they're both?)

**Mat49324** and **The Blue Time Ranger** are proud to present:  
_Totally Spies! Undercover: __Disillusioned Memories  
_**Story Rated:** T for Teen (for intense moments, a bit of harsh language, and lots and lots of action)

**Story Summary:** My third joint project with Mat49324 that picks up right from where _Beyond the Looking Glass_ left off. It seems life is going back to normal for the spies and their friends after seemingly finally defeating Terrence once and for all, but when it comes to being an agent of WOOHP, normal is forever a relative term. A new bad guy has risen, but this time around, it's personal, as this villain is someone Nick knows, despite his insistence that this person is supposed to be dead. Can the spies take down this latest superbad, and can Nick put the demons of his past to rest?

**On Today's Episode:** With new leads on the strange transmission hotspots, the spies head to Asia to check them out and hopefully discern a pattern to Kevin's attacks. And after all this time, the spies may finally discover who the big baddie is that's running the show. But can Nick keep his calm at this reveal, especially when he promised to never let his powers rage out of control again?

**And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer:** Mat49324 and I do not own anything related to Totally Spies or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Marathon Media Group, Image Entertainment Corporation, Vincent Chalvon-Demersay, and David Michel. The only things of this story we DO own are any characters created by us truly for the story (in this case, Nick, Haruka, Bridget, May, Nozomi, Dawn, and Melissa on my side, and Mathew on his side). Any characters or things we don't own, we are just borrowing with no intent of copyright infringement, only for the entertainment of our readers. Besides, if we _did_ own Totally Spies, which we _don't_, why would we be writing fiction on a fan site?

* * *

Episode 2: Genesis of Evil

(Nick's P.O.V.)

"Hey, pool buddy!" Bridget exclaimed, catching everyone's attention.

"Are you feeling all right, Nick?" Sam asked. "We were worried about you..."

"Yeah, sorry if I freaked you all out," I responded, jumping into the water and swimming my way over to the girls. Funny story, when I was younger, I couldn't swim for absolute _crap_, until Haruka and Bridget helped me out during our swim classes in school. Yeah, not something I'm gonna admit to _anyone_ that doesn't already know...

"Normally, I'm not much different when I unleash my powers," I stated. "It's just... when I saw Kevin attack Alex the way he did... I just _lost_ it. I guess the sight of what he did drove me crazy... I mean, for god's sake, he attacked my girlfriend just because it _amused_ him!"

I quickly shook my head to regain my composure. No, Nick, we're _not_ going down that road again...

"But, either way, if we see him again, I'll do my best to keep myself under control," Nick finished. "I _definitely_ don't want to go through _any_ of that again."

"That's good," Clover giggled. "You're pretty scary when you're on a rampage, you know that?"

"Not much different from when you lost that particular nail file," I quipped, remembering _that_ incident rather well.

"That was a gift!" Clover immediately shot back, causing all of us to burst into laughter.

"So, did Jerry have anything for us?" Bridget wondered.

"Yeah, he's gotta know something about this nonsense!" May quipped.

"Sadly, nothing from Jer yet," I responded. "But I realized something myself. We've been to three places so far trying to figure this out, but whoever the freak was that contacted us in Europe mentioned something about three other places they've apparently been to. Haruka and I decided that it might be worth checking those places out. Maybe if we can connect those places to the transmission spots _we've_ been to, it could finally connect the dots and help us figure out who's behind all of this."

"So, does that mean it's time to jet?" Melissa wondered.

"Not yet," I replied. "I figured we could just relax a bit before we head back out. I kinda need the relaxing time myself, considering..."

And that was all the convincing they needed.

But as we continued to have our fun in the pool, I couldn't help but let my mind wander to one question in particular...

...namely, how the hell is Kevin still alive?

I was there when he died. I saw the body. There was no way he could have survived what that jerk did to him.

So what exactly is going on here?

I guess we'll be getting our answers sooner or later.

We were having some good fun, but we were still thinking of what was going to happen.

"Any idea what to do to stop this guy?" asked Clover.

"More importantly, is there any reason HOW this Kevin's still alive?" asked Mathew.

"I might know," said Nick.

"Well? We're all ears!" May proclaimed.

"I figured that maybe he might actually be a clone, like Mat theorized," Nick started. "But now that I'm able to put some more of the details together, if he is, I'm pretty sure it's not actually Macker who's behind it."

"Then, who could it be?" Nozomi asked. "Who else do we know that makes clones of people?"

Haruka just shook her head. "I don't think we ever told any of you this, but... a few years ago, Nick and I went on a mission to stop this freak show who was meddling with genetics to create what he called 'super-life'. He claimed he was 'perfecting evolutionary benefits', but he was too deluded to see that he was actually turning people into monsters and other freaky stuff."

"I honestly hoped we'd never hear from that whack-job again after we took him down the first time," Nick continued. "But if he's the one behind this, then I've got every reason to believe that's why Kevin's acting the way he is."

"Wow, no wonder this guy has more lives than a cat," said Alex.

"I wouldn't say that," said Haruka.

"Well, what are we waiting around here for?!" Melissa countered, suddenly ready for action. "Let's go stomp this guy for what he did!"

That was when we heard some kind of gargling sound coming from us in the pool.

"Uh-oh... bet that's Jerry," said Sam before we were sucked in like water down a drain and were screaming.

We landed in the WOOHP pool where Jerry was awaiting us.

"Now I know what it's like to be gunk stuck in a drain," said Mathew.

"Now I remember why I never liked the spin cycle," Alex quipped.

"What's up, Jerry?" Nick asked, getting right to the point. "Any leads for us?"

Jerry just nodded, gesturing to the viewscreen, which displayed a strange base somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico.

"When we analyzed the transmission data you sent us, Nick, we discovered the exact location of one of the perpetrator's transmission spots," Jerry explained. "There may be more like this one, but until we can find another point, you all should investigate this one."

"Ew, _that's_ tacky," Clover quipped. "Who'd use a gaudy-looking base like that for their evil HQ?"

"Probably someone who doesn't care about their looks," Mathew stated.

"While we're doing that, Jerry, can you look for those signals in South America, Asia, and Europe?" Nick proclaimed. "The nutball who contacted us in Egypt said something about those places, so we figured if we connect those dots to the ones we already have, we may get some answers."

"We'll take care of that as swiftly as we can," Jerry proclaimed as the group all grabbed their Jetpack Backpacks, already stuffed with all the gadgets they'd need for this leg of the journey, then headed off to the Skyskimmer.

"Hey, is it me, or does anyone find it weird that Jerry didn't WOOHP us into the Skyskimmer for once?" Alex quipped.

"Probably 'cause he knows I'm on to him," Nick replied.

(Nick's P.O.V.)

As we continued to skulk our way through the base, through twisting corridors and any _number_ of tube-confined mad science experiments, I was focused on just one thing.

Finding the man responsible for what's happened to Kevin. If he's seriously who I think he is, I'm gonna enjoy taking some good old-fashioned revengeance on him.

"Yeesh, this place honestly smells worse than all the garbage Mandy forced us to pick up that time," Clover quipped. "And that was _pretty_ bad."

"And what exactly is with the freak shows in the tubes?" Nozomi proclaimed.

"Probably more of his 'experiments'," Haruka replied. I'm sure she was thinking exactly what I was.

Suddenly, footfalls resounded, and I immediately aimed my Wind Tunnel 9000 towards whoever it was.

"I'm honestly surprised to find you here."

"Yeah, well, if the shoe fits," I shot back, my aura shimmering around me as Kevin approached. Just as I'd suspected, he must have healed completely since our battle in Japan, since he was carrying himself like a smug a-hole as if I hadn't even cracked his ribs. "And let's just say we're actually here for your commander."

"Oh? What do you want with him?" Kevin cackled.

"We owe him some lumps for the last time," Haruka shot back. "So beat it."

"Not gonna happen," Kevin growled, drawing his bloodstained combat knife.

I forced the anger back down, not wanting to lose control of myself again. Even so, I saw him glance at Alex with that evil little smirk, and I let my psychic aura burst to life around me, hoping to intimidate Kevin into backing off.

"I'm only going to warn you _once_, Kevin," I stated. "You _know_ what I did to you the last time you tried that."

Alex stepped up as well, already shifting into a fighting stance...

...when we heard another voice.

"He means business, Kevin. Stand down. I'll take it from here."

Oh, and _this_, dear readers, is where my blood _really_ started to boil. Because that's the exact same voice I remember from three years ago.

And, sure enough, there he was, stepping out from the shadows like the reveal of a cliché slasher flick villain. The slicked-black silver hair, those bottle glasses, the green-stained lab coat, and that wretched grin.

Oh, I never thought I'd see the day.

"Professor Genesis," Haruka and I stated at the same time.

"Well, well," Professor Genesis cackled. "If it isn't the brats from three years ago. And look, you brought friends with you this time."

"All right, Genesis, I'm only going to ask you this one time," I growled, ready to go on the offensive at any second. "Are you the reason my deceased brother is still walking this earth?!"

"But wouldn't you give anything for a second chance to be reunited with a lost family member again, boy?" Genesis laughed.

"Not when he's a cold-blooded murderer who's trying to kill us, possibly under _your_ orders!" Haruka shouted. "What exactly did you _do_ to him?!"

"What I have always done," Genesis answered. "I recovered his DNA from his resting place, and I perfected him. Aside from that, I re-arranged his mind so that he is only loyal to me. What more fitting revenge against the two who put me away?"

Oh, that's _it_!

"You _son of a bitch!_" I shouted, my aura exploding outwards. "You _desecrated_ our family just so you could have your selfish shot at revenge?! You're a _madman_, Genesis!"

"How can you not see?" Genesis lambasted. "Now, he is perfect! The true next step in human evolution!"

"Okay, I'm officially _done_ listening to your stupid, self-serving ramblings!" I growled. "I'm going to put you in your place, Genesis, and we're going to finish what we started all those years ago!"

"Very well, then," Genesis cackled.

"N-Nick?" Alex gasped, obviously concerned.

I looked back at my girlfriend, my hardened gaze softening. "Hey, don't worry 'bout me. I'm in full control this time. I just need to teach this jackass a lesson about messing with my family."

"We'll _all_ teach him a lesson," Alex replied, walking up to me and drawing her own Wind Tunnel 9000. "Let's mess him up _good_."

"Do you honestly think I'm scared of you, boy?" Genesis laughed.

"Then how about you and Kevin just _come at me_, and you'll see first-hand just what you've awakened!" I shouted as we all shifted into a fighting stance.

"You mess with Nick, you go through all of us," said Haruka.

"You're not so bad," said Mathew. "I've seen dogs that are smarter than you... and I think Phil Collins was a better Genesis person, even though we're not dealing with the music band, Genesis."

"Follow my lead, guys," said Nick.

Genesis simply spread his arms wide, as if expecting the group to simply charge towards him.

Nick tentatively took a few steps forward as Genesis activated a button on his lab coat, a barrier of hard light forming around him.

"Stop being a coward and face me, asshole!" Nick shouted.

"Surely you of all people can find a way through my shield," Genesis taunted.

Suddenly, a strange can clattered down to the front of Genesis, who eyed it suspiciously, but was unable to react in time as the Tornado in a Can of Hairspray erupted, swallowing Genesis in a miniature whirlwind and spinning him around before unceremoniously tossing him into the side of the nearby wall, his shield deactivating in the process.

"Ah, that _never_ gets old," Clover giggled.

Nick would have rushed straight for Genesis had he not seen Kevin dodging around the other spies' efforts to attack him...

...and moving straight for Alex.

Thankfully, Haruka solved that conundrum for him by rushing over to a back-on-his-feet Genesis and grabbing his wrists in a combat grapple to keep him in place.

"I've got this, Nick! _Go!_" Haruka shouted.

Nick didn't waste any time, charging towards Kevin while forming an energy blade on his right hand.

Alex immediately shifted into a fighting stance even as Kevin thrust his bloodstained knife towards her. Nick immediately planted himself in front of Alex and swung his energy blade to knock Kevin away.

"Nice try," Nick taunted.

Genesis immediately pushed Haruka away from him to reach for his weapon, but Haruka quickly recovered and drove an elbow into Genesis' gut, causing him to double over enough for Nozomi to run over and send him sprawling with a flying kick to the face.

Despite the hits, Genesis quickly picked himself up as if nothing had even fazed him. "You'll have to do better than _that_, little ones," Genesis cackled.

This taunt only earned him an uppercut to the jaw courtesy of Melissa, who then followed up by grabbing Genesis' legs as he was lifted into the air by the uppercut and powerslamming him into the ground.

"How's _that_, jerkwad?!" Melissa shouted.

Nick and Kevin continued to clash blades with each other, neither one giving any ground.

"Why don't you just give up?" Kevin laughed.

"And let you and your boss do what you please?!" Nick shot back. "You'll have to excuse me if I call _bull_ on that!"

After juking to the side to avoid another swift stab, Nick ducked and lashed his right leg outwards to sweep Kevin off of his feet.

However, Kevin quickly recovered and sprung back to his feet, kicking Nick aside in the process.

"_Now_ try and stop me!" Kevin proclaimed, moving to stab at Alex...

...only to be distracted by a flash of green light, and then sent stumbling when something flew by him at incredible speeds. The culprit came back for at least four more super-speedy strikes before Kevin was knocked to the ground.

When the figure came to a complete stop, Nick was surprised to see Bridget wearing a bright green synthetic suit and holding two devices that resembled castanets. Her hair had also come free of its braids and now flowed down to about her waist.

"Ah, it's been a while since I've used this," Bridget giggled. She had just activated her Sonic Mode, a special project given to her by Jerry that allowed her to move at up to ten times her normal speed and agility.

"Now try and stop _me_, creep-o!" Bridget shouted, rushing at Kevin and delivering a barrage of attacks with her boosted speed, so much so that the other spies could only see Kevin getting knocked around until Bridget came in for one final right hook that sent Kevin flying into Genesis, the two of them tumbling to the ground in a pile.

"We've got you on the ropes, Genesis!" Nick exclaimed. "_Give it up_."

"You... you honestly think I'm going to just concede to you wretched spies?" Genesis growled. "Not on your life!"

Genesis immediately reached for a remote in his pocket and pressed the button before anyone could question what he was doing. Almost instantly, the entire area began to shake and rumble in response.

"Did you just set the place to self-destruct?!" Sam shouted.

"Cliché, but it works," Genesis laughed. "This isn't the end, spies! We _will_ meet again!"

And with that, Kevin and Genesis retreated, leaving the spies to go back the way they came and hopefully get to the Skyskimmer before the entire base exploded.

Thankfully, it was a straight shot to the Skyskimmer, and the spies took off into the air, watching the base tear itself asunder.

"Well, that was... a thing," May quipped.

"That was a battle indeed," said Sam.

"I hope that's the last we see of Kevin," said Clover.

"Hope so, too," said Alex. That's when Sam's X-Powder went off.

"Gotta be Jerry," said Haruka, overhearing that.

"What's the lowdown, Jer?" Nick asked.

"We are currently searching for more signals in the countries you told us about, but it shouldn't take too much longer to find them," Jerry answered. "Besides that, how did it go in Asia?"

"Well, we found the culprit behind Kevin's strange behavior," Haruka answered. "Does the name 'Professor Genesis' mean anything to you, Jerry?"

A few seconds of silence passed before Jerry responded.

"Professor Genesis, you say?" Jerry stated.

"That silence didn't exactly sound reassuring, Jer," Alex stated.

"I was hoping he would never resurface," Jerry replied. "That was the mad geneticist that you and Haruka apprehended three years ago, correct, Nick?"

"The one and the same," Nick proclaimed. "He stole Kevin's DNA to make a clone of him, just like I suspected."

"We fought both of them off, but he blew the base up to cover his tracks," Haruka continued. "I'm pretty sure he's got more bases somewhere, though."

"Keep scanning for them, okay, Jerry?" Sam stated.

"Will do, spies," Jerry answered. "You can head back to Beverly Hills for the moment. We'll call you when we've figured something out."

"Roger that," Nick quipped as the transmission cut out.

The flight home was mostly normal, with the various spies chatting about different things, like Clover once again talking about seeing that baguette stand guy if they ever returned to Paris, and Bridget explaining Sonic Mode to Melissa, May, Nozomi, and Dawn since they hadn't seen it before.

Nick occasionally glanced at Alex, who, at least outwardly, appeared to be none the worse for wear despite what Kevin had done to her not too long ago.

_Thank goodness that WOOHP has such a great medical staff and can do the things they're able to do,_ Nick thought, trying not to glance at her left side, where Kevin had struck her with that damned knife.

"Everything okay, Nick?" Alex asked.

"I-I-I just gurg"

Alex couldn't help but giggle. "Speak words, Nick."

"It's just..." Nick sighed in defeat. He often forgot that his girlfriend could read him like a book sometimes. "I just worry about how close I came to losing you, Alex..."

"Hey, I'm a tough girl," Alex stated, leaning over to hug Nick. "A silly little _knife_ isn't gonna be enough to take out lil ol' me."

"It just gave me some bad juju flashbacks of what happened to Bridget," Nick admitted. "And considering how angry I got when _she_ got stabbed... I don't know if the others told you what I almost did to Kevin when you got hurt..."

"You weren't thinking straight, that's all," Alex replied. "It's perfectly justifiable to want to bean the jerk's face in for what he did."

Alex leaned over to kiss Nick for a couple seconds before looking him directly in the eyes and smiling brightly. "You won't lose me, Nick. I promise."

They kissed again, unaware of Sam and Mat smiling at them from the other side of the Skyskimmer, the two of them holding hands as well.

(Sam's P.O.V.)

"I hope I don't lose you," I quietly said to Mat.

"I don't see that happening anytime soon," Mat replied with a chuckle. "But THAT was nice to see from Alex and Nick."

"I'll say," I replied as we shared a kiss of our own.

"Though now that we got some time to kill," said Mat, checking his watch. "I might get a chance to watch the next Supercross broadcast on TV – St. Louis 2006; hopefully that's the race that'll leave me happy – specifically Chad Reed winning..."

(A/N from **Mat49324**: Yes I did say "2006" because when we did "Beyond the Looking Glass", it was August 2005, despite it took us a couple of years to finish. I wanted to clear that up.)

"You know, I never knew why you take interest in him," I said.

"Well, let me put it this way," said Mathew. "Three years ago, I was totally broken after hearing that the Supercross KING Jeremy McGrath, retired so suddenly because I'd never get to see him win another race after January 20th, 2001, and watch him go winless in Supercross 2002. I'll be honest, NOBODY would've guessed that he'd announce his retirement on short notice, myself included. I put all my hopes on that 22 Yamaha of Chad Reed for the '03 Supercross title. He didn't win it – lost by 7 – but Chad proved to me that he was faster than Ricky Carmichael, the new dominant rider in the sport... and after seeing Reed win only twice in the first half of the season... I was disappointed and thought of leaving the sport I'd followed and loved since 1997 – five and a half years to be exact."

"Wow, so Chad Reed and Supercross DO mean a lot to you," I deduced.

"Yes, they do," Mat continued. "Supercross has always been important to me. Anyway, St. Louis '03 was when I started to regain my hope in Chad Reed because he won the final six straight races and battled head-to-head with Carmichael, and beat him straight up, Dallas '03 is the race that told me, 'Don't leave.' He didn't win the title, but Chad Reed became my savior. I'll show that to you if you want and maybe you'll see what I mean."

"I'll... think about it," I said, thinking that might be interesting to watch. "But I was also going to ask if you wanted some company?"

Mat looked a bit surprised.

"Yeah, sure, why not," He said with a grin. "Maybe that might be the good luck charm I'll need..."

"I hope so," I said. "Though I'd like to see YOU out there, Mat."

Mat looked surprised. "Okay, Sam," He said. "Don't go that way, ok? You know I ride and all, but the only way I can go THAT speed with the pros... is in my sleep."

"So, you don't like Carmichael?" I asked.

"No, I do," said Mat. "I like Ricky just as much as the next person, but pretty much all his wins came from getting the lead early and just going unchallenged."

**8:12 A.M. – Spies' Villa**

I sat at the sofa with my OJ next to Mat, and saw him just sigh in frustration.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Heat race ended," Mat said, covering his eyes in frustration. "Just saw Ivan Tedesco pass Chad Reed in the rhythm section for 2nd place; James Stewart wins the heat race again for the 9th straight time (7 straight for the AMA series). I know the main's a whole different deal, but it's just SO frustrating to see Chad Reed not up at the front! He hasn't led a lap since round 2 in Phoenix!"

I gave Mat a pat on the shoulder in the hopes he'd somehow be happy in the end.

"Is he alright?" I heard Alex ask me. Haruka was with her.

"He will be," Sam responded.

I looked to see Mat breathe and hold on to whatever hope he had left in him. It was twice as hard to know there wasn't anything anybody could do.

(Mathew's P.O.V.)

I continued to watch through heat 2 and saw Carmichael crash HARD in the whoops on a replay, and then pull out.

"Ow, that's gonna hurt," said Sam.

"No doubt," I said, thinking this might be what I was looking for.

I sat through until the main event came along. I knew Sam was sitting next to me, so I decided to grab her hand in the hopes of SOME good luck.

"Ivan Tedesco on the number 9; Carmichael down in the first turn..." I heard the announcers say when the gate dropped for the main.

My eyes lit up at seeing what I was seeing. Three laps later, we saw a replay of Ricky Carmichael pulling out of the race... only to see James Stewart move in front of Reed and Ernesto Fonseca on the number 10 Honda for 2nd place. I was about to sigh in frustration again until Stewart bobbled in the rhythm section and Reed re-took 2nd place.

I breathed a sigh of relief – almost like I nearly avoided falling off a cliff.

"You okay, Mat?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, just racing nerves, pardon the pun," Mat replied.

On lap 10, we saw Chad Reed go for the lead on Ivan Tedesco, and got it. I grinned a mile wide, and then got more excited during a replay of the pass when I heard James Stewart had crashed himself. As soon as the broadcast went to commercial, Sam and I looked at each other. She could see the amount of surprise and happiness on my face.

"I think this is the one..." Sam said to me.

"I hope so," I said, still totally excited deep down. "If it is, I'm having you sit with me next Saturday night for the next round in Atlanta."

"We'll see," said Sam.

By the time the final lap (lap 20) came around, I was still grinning at Chad Reed still leading the race. At the checkers, it was Chad Reed indeed with the win, Ivan Tedesco finishing 2nd, and Ernesto Fonseca 3rd; James Stewart finished 17th and Ricky Carmichael in 20th (last place).

"Did it!" I exclaimed with a happy fist pump. "Win number 1 and the points lead for Chad Reed... I am LOVING life right now!"

I listened through the interviews – still feeling overjoyed – even with a disappointing interview with James Stewart and his 17th place finish, and the broadcast was later over.

(A/N from **Mat49324**: It should be noted that this is how the 2006 St. Louis Supercross turned out because I have this race on a blank CD.)

"I'm happy for you, Mat," said Sam, holding me.

"Thanks, Sam," I said. "You're sitting with me next week on the couch for round 8 in Atlanta."

"Hey, lovebirds," said Haruka. "Hate to interrupt your time together, but Jerry's got something."

"Oh... okay then," I said.

"What's the scoop, Jer?" Alex asked once the entire group had convened in the living room.

"While I was analyzing the transmitters, a quick scan of Beverly Hills revealed some strange chatter about a 'Zero Requiem'," Jerry explained. "It didn't seem like something too suspicious at first, but..."

"Wait, Zero Requiem?" Dawn asked, remembering something from earlier. "I think I heard something about that when Professor Genesis had me captive before!"

"Where's that chatter coming from, Jerry?" Sam asked.

Jerry's visage faded from the screen of Haruka's X-Powder, cutting to an image of a large, but very run-down and worn-out building that looked like it had been abandoned for a few years.

"Oof," Bridget quipped. "Talk about yuck."

"Wait, that place seems really familiar somehow..." Clover noted. "Not really sure why, though..."

"Hold on, I know where that is!" Sam exclaimed.

"You do?" Alex wondered.

"Remember our freshman year, when we started at Beverly Hills High?" Sam explained. "We were all super-excited because we were the first to try out the brand new school building, and it was at least _five_ steps up from the one at the edge of town. Remember? Clean water fountains, half the commute time..."

"Um, Sammie, school is school," Clover answered. "It's not really something to get too excited about."

"Maybe it was just me, then, but this place Jerry's showing us is the _old_ Beverly Hills High School building," Sam continued. "It's been abandoned, but according to Jerry's report, power in that building is still running for whatever reason."

"Did they just forget to turn it off?" Melissa asked.

"Maybe the city had plans for it," Alex cut in.

"Methinks our villains may be using that building as a hideout for whatever sick plans they're cooking up," Nick stated. "Let's head over there and kick some face."

"Sounds like a plan!" Haruka exclaimed.

**9:17 A.M. – The Old Beverly Hills High School**

"Wow, you guys weren't kidding," Haruka admitted as the spies trudged through the mostly shadowed remains of the former school. "This place is dank and depressing."

"Glad I never had to deal with any of this nonsense when I came here," Nick quipped.

All of a sudden, a loud roar forced everyone to stop in their tracks, the sheer bestial rage emanating from said roar making the spies' hair stand on end.

"What the _hell_ was _that_?!" Nozomi gasped.

"Probably not the welcoming committee, that's for damn sure," Dawn shuddered.

"Hey, does anyone hear footsteps?" Alex wondered.

While listening for the source of the footsteps, Mat was the first to notice something coming from the shadows...

...straight for Sam.

"LOOK OUT!" Mat screamed, diving forward to tackle Sam to the ground, and just in time, as a large figure had just dove through the air to attack Sam, only missing thanks to Mat's quick thinking.

As the buff figure rolled to its feet, Nick unleashed his psychic aura, and Bridget activated Sonic Mode in order to deal with this new threat.

The attacker in question only halfway resembled a human being anymore, with extreme muscle expansion and a severely messed-up head clearly visible. His hands also sported elongated claws that looked like they could easily cleave solid steel.

"Thanks for the save, Mat," Sam stated, giving Mat a quick kiss on the cheek before facing down their attacker. "But what in the name of our unholy science class is _this_ thing?!"

"Looks like another one of Professor Genesis' 'experiments'," Haruka growled. "He's _really_ sick in the head, if you couldn't tell."

"All right, let's KO this thing and keep moving," Nick proclaimed.

Bridget started off by lunging forward with her boosted speed to land an uppercut to the creature's jaw (heavily resisting the rather inappropriate urge to shout "SHORYUKEN" as she did), only to stop when she saw the punch had no effect.

"Is this guy for real?!" Bridget shouted. Her surprised moment cost her, however, as the creature used this opportunity to slug Bridget in the chest and send her tumbling backwards, thankfully (to Nick) without using its claws.

"Holy crap, Bridget, you okay?!" Alex exclaimed.

"Yeah, just got sucker-punched," Bridget replied as she stood up.

"You're gonna pay _dearly_ for that one!" Nick shouted, raising his hands to fire bursts of psychic power at the beast, who simply shrugged the blasts off.

"Man, what's it gonna take to keep you down?!" Clover exclaimed.

"Can you all keep him busy for a bit?" Nick stated, raising his right hand and channeling his psychic power into it. "I need a moment here."

"Will do, buddy!" Nozomi responded, getting in close and wailing on the creature with various martial arts moves, dodging in whichever way she needed to and making damn sure to avoid the claws.

Alex rolled to behind the beast and unleashed a blast from her Wind Tunnel 9000, striking the creature in its back and turning its attention to her.

"All right, get clear!" Nick exclaimed.

Even as the creature roared in rage, Alex and Nozomi quickly backflipped out of the way so Nick could unleash his finishing move. This didn't seem to discourage the creature, who began shambling towards Nick with every intent of disemboweling him.

"Say your prayers, mutant boy! _FINAL SHINE ATTACK!_" Nick shouted, raising both of his hands. Just as the creature attempted to slice him apart, Nick unleashed his gathered energy in the form of a gigantic neon-green blast that carried the creature through the hallway and eventually into a large structure, the blast eventually exploding into a cascade of light that shattered the structure and instantly sent the creature into unconsciousness.

"And boom goes the dynamite," Nick proclaimed. "Hopefully we can cure anyone who's been mutated."

"Let's save that for when we finally take down the prof," Haruka stated.

"Deeper into hell we go, it seems," Mat quipped.

(Sam's P.O.V.)

"And then some," said Nick.

"Wouldn't surprise me if Kevin's around somewhere," said Mat as we pursued on.

"Me neither," I replied. "Be ready if he is though."

"Genesis really IS sick in the head though," said Mat in agreement with Nick. "Lucky thing I didn't come here myself before moving to BH."

We continued to meander around the old high school. It wasn't until Alex stepped on a tile and it broke into 5 pieces almost like you cracked a mirror. She then looked and saw it.

"Ah, now I know why they originally closed this place down," Alex said.

"Well, besides these shadows, I don't see anything out of the ordinary," said Clover. "We better wrap this up soon because this place is giving me the creeps."

"Gives you the creeps," said Mat to Clover. "That makes two of us."

We looked around in every direction as we moved around the old Beverly High. It was like being in a haunted house to say the least.

"Is anybody else getting more trips down memory lane than we are getting clues here?" Alex asked.

We reached the pool area. The pool was full of water, surprisingly.

"That's impossible," I said. "The building's abandoned, why is there water in the pool?"

"Too bad we're here on business," said Mat. "Otherwise, a pool like this is a nice place for a date."

"Wait, look!" Haruka exclaimed as the water started to bubble.

"What is going on?!" Nozomi screamed.

"I don't know," said Mat. "But I am **not** gonna want to find out."

It was at that moment when we turned around that I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and targeted Mat.

"Oh no," I quietly said to myself, and had to act fast.

"MAT, LOOK OUT!" I screamed and dove to save him (just like he did with me).

Mat then looked at me as I sighed in relief.

"I guess the feeling is mutual," He said, kissing my cheek, too.

"Hold on, guys," said Nick, using his powers.

Haruka and Bridget pitched in and helped.

"What are _these_ things?!" Dawn shouted as the shadows began to surround the group.

"Probably more of Genesis' cronies," Haruka sighed. "I wouldn't put it past him to have more of these freaks."

"How about you _scram_, weirdos?!" May exclaimed, laying into one of the shadows with a flying roundhouse kick.

"We might have a problem! There's too many of them!" Alex shouted, leaping over a shadow and bringing her foot down on its head as she landed.

"We'll hold 'em off! You guys just keep going!" Bridget exclaimed, switching to Sonic Mode and blasting through a few of the shadows.

While the others kept busy, we all made a beeline to get out of there.

"Everyone OK?" I asked when we got out.

"I'm just glad we're outta there," said Mat.

"Ditto," said Clover.

"Sammy, what's that black sludge on your knee?" Alex then asked.

That's when Mat found it, too. It was the size of a ping-pong ball.

"I bet that came when you tackled me out of harm's way," Mat deduced.

As Nick, Haruka, and the others came back, my X-Powder rang.

"Spies, a mission update?" Jerry asked.

"The mission is too weird, Jer," Clover began. "Professor Genesis is _really_ showing his sick side, not to mention Mathew and Sam were nearly spy-napped."

"Oh my," Jerry commented.

"While we have you, Jerry," said Mat. "Maybe you could explain this black sludge we found on Sam's leg?"

"They were from the shadows we fought," said Haruka.

"Oh, and Nick found something, too as we escaped," Bridget chimed in.

Nick took a vial he'd procured and tipped a small drop of strange-looking green liquid onto the X-Powder's scanner.

"Oof, what's that green yuck?" Clover asked.

"I noticed some of it on the body of that claw dude we fought earlier," Nick quipped. "I figured I'd swipe some so Jerry could analyze it next chance we got."

A few seconds passed before Jerry's visage returned to the X-Powder's screen.

"Well, the sludge is a strange form of human DNA, just seemingly corrupted beyond normal recognition," Jerry explained.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Alex shrieked. "Those shadow things were once human?!"

"Holy crabapples, Nick, you weren't kidding when you said Genesis was sick," I shuddered.

"No kidding, but he wasn't _this_ sick the last time," Haruka cut in. "Just what the heck has he been up to these past three years?"

"And as for the green liquid, it appears to be some kind of virus that targets specific DNA strands and 'rearranges' them into something different," Jerry continued.

"Which means it's most likely Genesis' mutation serum," Nick proclaimed. "Makes sense that he'd be perfecting it while he's been away."

"By the way, spies," Jerry continued. "I have established contact with Britney. She's on her way."

Mat, Clover, and I were pretty pumped... save for Alex anyway.

"Great," said Alex, a little detested.

"Jerry, any word on Professor Genesis or Kevin?" Nick asked.

"I'm detecting two other people in the building with you," Jerry answered. "It might be them, so stay on your guard, spies."

"Roger that, Jer," Nick replied, closing his X-Powder for the time being.

As the group continued to make their way through the (seemingly) abandoned school, Nick would occasionally notice Alex looked a little upset.

"Hey," Nick stated, shuffling closer to his girlfriend. "Everything okay?"

"I-I mean, yes, I mean um uh I"

Nick couldn't help but chuckle, noting the role reversal from not too long ago. "Speak words, Alex."

"I guess... I'm just a little worried about Britney," Alex admitted. "I _know_ we've been over this before, but... I keep worrying that she's going to replace me, despite all the times I've worried myself sick over it and all the times I've tried to convince myself that Britney's not like that, but..."

Alex was stopped in her tracks when Nick leaned over to give her a hug.

"Alex, sweetie, we could _never_ replace you, in _anything_," Nick reassured. "I know it eats at you whenever we gotta call Britney, but I can assure you, no one's getting replaced, _especially_ not you. We just figured we'd need a little extra muscle in case Genesis has some super-secret monstrosity ready to spring on us when we scuttle his plans."

"It's what I'd do in that situation," Alex admitted before hugging Nick back. "But, seriously, Nick, thanks for being such a wonderful sweetheart when I'm feeling even the _slightest_ bit down."

"Hey, I wouldn't be doing my job as your boyfriend if I didn't," Nick teased.

"And I definitely wouldn't be doing _my _job as your girlfriend if I didn't show my appreciation," Alex giggled as she and Nick kissed lovingly.

Sadly, the kiss only got to last a few seconds due to Nick having to let go of Alex and spread his hands out, creating a psychic barrier that deflected a small salvo of red laser fire away from them.

"Cheap move, Kevin," Nick proclaimed.

"Whoever said I had to play fair?" Kevin cackled before retreating the way he had come from.

"After him!" Sam shouted.

The spies immediately pursued Kevin, only stopping when they reached a large area with many tall tube-like tanks filled with mutated humans, more of those strange shadow monsters, and, most tellingly, a gigantic spherical container at the dead center of the room. The container had a transparent window that showed that the container was filled to the brim with that same green liquid that Nick had found on the beast that had attacked them.

"Ladies and literal germs, welcome to the mad scientist's lunacy lair," Clover quipped.

"What in the _hell_?!" Nozomi exclaimed.

"This must be Genesis' laboratory," Nick stated.

"I'm gonna turbo-barf just _looking_ at all of this," Alex groaned.

"Why put down what is clearly perfection?" a familiar voice resounded. The group immediately turned their attention to the giant container, where Professor Genesis himself was standing proudly with Kevin by his side.

All of the spies quickly brought out their preferred weapon of choice, but Nick and Haruka had positively murderous expressions as they stared down Genesis.

"All right, Genesis, I'm _really_ sick of getting the runaround from you and your lackey," Nick growled. "I want answers, and I want them _now_. Exactly _what the hell are you planning?!_"

"And don't bother trying to fight back," Haruka continued. "It's two against eleven, and we've got a twelve that's on her way. Now _answer the question_."

"I am merely ushering human evolution along its intended course," Genesis proclaimed, gesturing to the container behind him. "It truly is a marvel, wouldn't you agree? In the three years since our last meeting, I have created enough of my evolutionary serum to finally begin phase one of the Zero Requiem."

"You mentioned that when you had me all tied and twisted," Dawn cut in. "You wanna explain what _that_ is?!"

"What you see all around you were merely the tests, the prototypes of my grand scheme," Genesis proclaimed. "I intend to send this canister into space, have it detonate in the upper atmosphere and shower the entire country with my evolution formula. Once everyone in America is evolved and perfected, the other countries will be targeted next. Soon enough, this entire world will evolve! The world will be perfected! It will be so unbelievably _grand_!"

Genesis' rant was interrupted when Nick fired off an immensely powerful Final Shine Attack that carried Genesis into the nearby wall and didn't stop until five seconds after the impact, leaving Genesis to slide limply down the wall.

"You've freakin' _lost it_," Nick growled, his psychic aura flaring dangerously around him. "Do you seriously believe you're helping people with this genetics _bullshit_?! _Look around you_, you madman! You're turning these innocent people into freaks of nature, monstrosities beyond human comprehension! Is this _honestly_ what you call _evolution_?!"

"I wouldn't expected an unevolved _monkey_ like yourself to understand," Genesis cackled, only to be violently lifted into the air by Nick's psychic hold.

"Try me, you son of a bitch," Nick proclaimed, snapping his hand downwards and smashing Genesis into the ground. "Haruka, read the bastard his rights."

"Oh, I've been waiting three years for this, jerk-o," Haruka stated as she moved to slip the cuffs on Genesis, only for the entire laboratory to start rumbling and shaking.

"What the heck's happening _now_?!" Clover shouted.

"You're too late, spies," Genesis laughed maniacally. "The rocket that holds my evolutionary serum is launching as we speak."

Sure enough, the giant container was slowly ascending into the air.

"You can't stop my plan! You can't stop human evolution!" Genesis cackled, only for Nick to strike his neck with a backhand, instantly knocking him out cold.

"FINALLY, someone shut his pompous face up," Mat groaned.

"We've got more pressing matters at hand," Nick proclaimed, waiting until Haruka had successfully cuffed Genesis before encasing the mad geneticist in a psychic bubble and, after creating another hole in the ceiling, flicked his hand up to send the bubbled Genesis towards WOOHP headquarters. "We're gonna have to stop that rocket real Sonic-like!"

"What's the plan, then?" Sam asked.

Suddenly, Nick's X-Powder rang, forcing him to open it. "What's the sit-rep, Jerry? We've kinda gotta hurry right now!" Nick exclaimed.

"Wait, wait, where'd Kevin go?" Alex asked.

"That's what I wanted to tell you," Jerry stated, "Kevin has left your location and is heading for Beverly Hills High School."

"What would he want _there_?" May asked.

It didn't take long for Nick to figure things out, and he punched the nearby wall in frustration. "That son of a _bitch_!" Nick growled. "He's trying to distract us from stopping that rocket!"

"Well, we've got numbers on our side," Mat answered. "What do you think we should do?"

"We're going to need at least half the group for each side of this predicament," Sam stated. "So, how about this? Me, Clover, Mat, May, Dawn, and Melissa will head up to stop that rocket before it can detonate. Nick, you take Haruka, Bridget, Alex, and Nozomi to Beverly Hills High and stop Kevin before he can hurt anybody there. I'll get Britney on the horn and have her meet you there on the double. Now let's move out, spies!"

Nothing more needed to be said as the spies split off into their aforementioned teams and set out to contain Professor Genesis' sinister plan before it was too late.

_To be continued..._

* * *

On the next episode...

Mat: I've seen some nuts and wackos in my days with WOOHP, but holy _Toledo_, Professor Genesis is a one-of-a-kind sicko.

Nozomi: You're telling me! How did you deal with him the _first_ time, Nick?!

Nick: Very slowly and tediously.

Bridget: Come on, guys, I can see Kevin piloting another giant robot! He just smashed through the wall of the gym!

Mandy: Hey, watch it! You could have ruined my complexion!

Nick: Trust me, Mandy, he'll ruin _far more_ than your complexion.

Alex: This ends here, faker!

Nick: If I have to put you down so my brother can rest in peace, Kevin, then _so be it_! Next time on the final act of _Totally Spies!: Disillusioned Memories_, "Nightmare's End"!

Alex: Seriously, why is it giant robot central over here nowadays?


	3. Nightmare's End

_Previously on Disillusioned Memories..._

"You can't stop my plan! You can't stop human evolution!" Genesis cackled, only for Nick to strike his neck with a backhand, instantly knocking him out cold.

"FINALLY, someone shut his pompous face up," Mat groaned.

"We've got more pressing matters at hand," Nick proclaimed, waiting until Haruka had successfully cuffed Genesis before encasing the mad geneticist in a psychic bubble and, after creating another hole in the ceiling, flicked his hand up to send the bubbled Genesis towards WOOHP headquarters. "We're gonna have to stop that rocket real Sonic-like!"

"What's the plan, then?" Sam asked.

Suddenly, Nick's X-Powder rang, forcing him to open it. "What's the sit-rep, Jerry? We've kinda gotta hurry right now!" Nick exclaimed.

"Wait, wait, where'd Kevin go?" Alex asked.

"That's what I wanted to tell you," Jerry stated, "Kevin has left your location and is heading for Beverly Hills High School."

"What would he want _there_?" May asked.

It didn't take long for Nick to figure things out, and he punched the nearby wall in frustration. "That son of a _bitch_!" Nick growled. "He's trying to distract us from stopping that rocket!"

"Well, we've got numbers on our side," Mat answered. "What do you think we should do?"

"We're going to need at least half the group for each side of this predicament," Sam stated. "So, how about this? Me, Clover, Mat, May, Dawn, and Melissa will head up to stop that rocket before it can detonate. Nick, you take Haruka, Bridget, Alex, and Nozomi to Beverly Hills High and stop Kevin before he can hurt anybody there. I'll get Britney on the horn and have her meet you there on the double. Now let's move out, spies!"

Nothing more needed to be said as the spies split off into their aforementioned teams and set out to contain Professor Genesis' sinister plan before it was too late.

* * *

(Memories can be deceiving. They can be a benevolent ruler, or a cruel mistress. But what happens when they're both?)

**Mat49324** and **The Blue Time Ranger** are proud to present:  
_Totally Spies! Undercover: __Disillusioned Memories  
_**Story Rated:** T for Teen (for intense moments, a bit of harsh language, and lots and lots of action)

**Story Summary:** My third joint project with Mat49324 that picks up right from where _Beyond the Looking Glass_ left off. It seems life is going back to normal for the spies and their friends after seemingly finally defeating Terrence once and for all, but when it comes to being an agent of WOOHP, normal is forever a relative term. A new bad guy has risen, but this time around, it's personal, as this villain is someone Nick knows, despite his insistence that this person is supposed to be dead. Can the spies take down this latest superbad, and can Nick put his demons to rest?

**On Today's Episode:** The race is on to stop Professor Genesis' evil scheme. As Sam leads her own half of the group to disable Genesis' rocket from covering America in his mutation formula, Nick leads the other half of the team to Beverly Hills High School to stop Kevin from doing... whatever he plans to do. But Kevin is a relentless foe, and Nick is worried that if Kevin can't be stopped peacefully, he may have to be taken down in a more _permanent_ fashion. Also, is Professor Genesis truly finished, or does he have one more trick up his sleeves?

**And Now, the Obligatory Disclaimer:** Mat49324 and I do not own anything related to Totally Spies or any of its affiliations. It belongs solely to Marathon Media Group, Image Entertainment Corporation, Vincent Chalvon-Demersay, and David Michel. The only things of this story we DO own are any characters created by us truly for the story (in this case, Nick, Haruka, Bridget, May, Nozomi, Dawn, and Melissa on my side, and Mathew on his side). Any characters or things we don't own, we are just borrowing with no intent of copyright infringement, only for the entertainment of our readers. Besides, if we _did_ own Totally Spies, which we _don't_, why would we be writing fiction on a fan site?

**Author's Note from The Blue Time Ranger:** This is NO LONGER Mat49324's last _Totally Spies_ story period, since we've been brainstorming ideas for a sequel to this! And I PROMISE (and I mean it this time) that we won't take NINE FREAKING YEARS to get it done. I seriously don't know why that even happened the way it did...

* * *

Episode 3: Nightmare's End

"I see something!" Bridget exclaimed as the five spies flew through the air via their Jetpack Backpacks towards Beverly Hills High School. The good news was that the school looked pretty much completely intact.

The not-so-good news was that a fairly large robot could be seen approaching the school, no doubt another mech suit for Kevin to pilot.

"Seriously, why do all these would-be dictators and crazies _always_ have _multiple giant robots_?!" Alex exclaimed. "This isn't Power Rangers, you loonies!"

"Or Voltron."

The spies glanced behind them to see a girl about their age with long, dark-blue hair and a neon-blue spy suit flying just behind them.

"Britney, right on schedule!" Haruka exclaimed.

"I assume mister robot down there is the distraction that Jerry mentioned to me?" Britney asked.

"Nailed it," Alex stated, unsure of how to react to Britney.

"Well, then let's go fly down there and send it packing!" Britney proclaimed.

As the six spies flew down towards the school, Nick flashed Alex a quick smile that was enough to calm her nerves.

_I don't know why I act like this every time Britney pops up, but Nick's right,_ Alex thought. _She's not here to replace me, just give us some extra hands to deal with robot boy and his pilot._

The spies eventually landed at the front gates and decided to sneak in quietly, as Kevin didn't seem to be aware of their arrival, probably believing they'd all gone to stop the rocket.

Before Britney could suggest a plan of attack, a large rumble shook the surrounding area.

"What was _that_?!" Britney gasped.

"Sounds like Kevin's beginning the smashy-smashy," Nozomi replied. "It sounds like it came from the cafeteria! Let's move!"

When the group reached the cafeteria, sure enough, Kevin's mech was standing there in an intimidating fashion. Most of the students in the cafeteria were backing away from the gigantic machine that nearly reached the roof, but Mandy was approaching the machine as if to tell its pilot off.

"She's nuts," Alex groaned, only to see Nick's psychic aura flare to life as he moved towards the robot.

"_Excuse me_," Mandy proclaimed, seemingly not intimidated by the large robot that had just smashed its way into the cafeteria. "How _dare_ you prattle your way into _my _school and just start smashing things like you own them or something?"

**("Nuclear Jäger" by Hachimitsu-Lemon plays)**

Kevin slowly turned his robot around and stared Mandy down, and only when the mech started marching towards her did she start to feel intimidated.

"Ah, the school queen bee," Kevin cackled. "Though, from up here, you look just like any other bug. And there's a universal reaction to the sight of a bug!"

The mech raised its bulky fist above itself, then slammed it downwards, fully expecting to crush Mandy under it.

However, Nick dove forward and spread his arms out to create a psychic barrier that the mech's fist just bounced off of.

"You again," Kevin growled.

"You're not hurting _anyone_ in this school as long as I'm here, you got that?!" Nick shouted.

"But I thought you _hated_ this girl," Kevin laughed. "Isn't she the _enemy_ of you and your girlfriends?"

"Only in an atypical high school rivals sort of way," Nick shot back, his hands surrounded with golden light. "And since when is our social life any of _your_ goddamn business?! You know what, that doesn't even matter right now. I'm stopping you right here, _right now!_"

"Or _what_?!" Kevin shouted. "You know I won't stop until you're all dust. If you want to stop me, Nick, you're going to have to _kill me_!"

That statement stunned Nick into silence.

"You BASTARD!" Nick exclaimed.

He was about to back down, much to Kevin's delight.

"NICK, DON'T LISTEN!" Alex screamed from the sidelines.

"He's playing a mind trick on you!" Haruka added.

"But he..." Nick started, still with every intention to stand down.

"BUT NOTHING!" Nozomi exclaimed. "This is a dirty trick of his! DON'T FALL FOR IT!"

Britney was the only one out of the loop, so she stayed silent for a bit... until she did say something.

"I've seen my fair share of mind tricks," She said. "DON'T LISTEN TO HIM – LISTEN TO US!"

"DON'T GIVE IT A SECOND THOUGHT!" Alex screamed again.

"THINK ABOUT HOW GENESIS CREATED HIM!" Haruka screamed to conclude.

"You're willing to lose me a second time?" Kevin sneered at Nick, still fully expecting him to back off.

Nick's aura began to pick up power.

"It's no secret we hate Mandy," said Nick. "But I wouldn't wish the ultimate demise on her ANY day of the week."

Kevin's sinister grin began to go away at Nick's aura getting brighter and brighter.

"You're done like dinner... Kevin," Nick declared, finally seeing the light.

"YOU WOULDN'T!" Kevin screamed.

Nick's only response was to form an energy blade on both of his hands. "Let's dance," Nick proclaimed.

Kevin just growled in rage and began to pilot his mech towards Nick.

"Okay, this looks like it's going to get ugly," Britney noted.

"I felt the same thing," Alex replied, turning towards the students who were still in the cafeteria, away from the rampaging robot. "All right, peoples! You probably don't want to be in this room right now, so EVERYBODY OUT!"

This was enough to get everyone running for the hills, even Mandy herself, though she stopped right next to Nick.

"Um..." Mandy started. "Don't get used to this, but... thank you for saving me."

"It's no problem, Mandy," Nick responded. "We may be 'rivals', but I'm not letting you get _actually_ hurt if I have any say in the matter."

Mandy gave Nick a quick smile before beating it out of the cafeteria.

"Um, pardon if I'm interrupting, but shouldn't we help him?" Britney asked. "I don't know the full extent of Nick's psychic powers, since this is the first time I've seen them, but..."

"It's okay, Britney," Alex replied. "Nick's got this. This is something he's gotta do on his own."

"Just you and me now, Kevin," Nick proclaimed. "I hope you're ready to answer for desecrating my brother's memory."

"SCREW YOU!" Kevin shouted, bringing both of his mech's hands down on Nick, only for Nick to slice outwards with both of his energy blades, cleanly severing both of the mech's arms from the rest of the body.

While Kevin was just gawking at how easily that had happened, Nick made his move, dashing towards the robot and swiping both of his blades again, this time severing the legs and causing the now-limbless machine to crash to the ground.

Nick took a step back, dispelling one of his blades so he could charge up a Final Shine Attack.

"You really think you've beaten me?!" Kevin shouted, hoping Nick wouldn't hear the desperation in his voice. "I'm not going down so easily this time!"

"You really think I'm going to fall for that again, Kevin?" Nick growled. "Genesis must have done something to your brain, because he obviously thinks I'm some kind of idiot. Well, I'm not! And here's the proof! _FINAL SHINE ATTACK!_"

Nick thrust his free hand forward to unleash a massive blast of neon-green energy that utterly destroyed Kevin's mech, leaving Kevin himself to tumble to the ground in an ungainly fashion.

"This won't be the last you see of me, you wretched spies!" Kevin shouted, attempting to get to his feet only to be ensnared in Nick's psychic grip.

"You're not going _anywhere_, asshole," Nick shot back.

"You... you wouldn't..." Kevin gasped.

"You already tried _that_, too," Nick responded. "The Kevin that _I _remember was one of the nicest people I've ever known. He had a bit of a temper sometimes, I'll admit, but he never let that control his decision-making. He wanted nothing more than to make us happy. He _laid down his life_ to protect Melissa and I. Kevin was really one of the best siblings anyone could have ever asked for."

Nick stared Kevin down, and Kevin actually flinched at the sight of the unyielding rage in Nick's brown eyes. "You're nothing more than a perversion of human nature, created by a certified madman with more than a few screws loose. You spit on his grave, you desecrate his memory with _every single step_ you take. You and Genesis tarnished my brother's legacy, his very _life_, and for _what_?! Some kind of insane _revenge_ scheme?! I seriously hoped there weren't villains as demented as you, but I guess I was wrong."

Nick drew his other hand back, the energy blade extending in length. "You're not Kevin, and your _very existence_ is an affront to everything my brother was. And I've made my mind up."

Kevin began struggling to escape Nick's psychic hold, even if he knew it was to no avail.

"If I have to kill _you_ so my brother's soul can have the peaceful rest he deserves..." Nick stated.

Kevin looked up in an attempt to parley with Nick, only to hear the four words that sealed his fate.

"...then _so be it_."

Kevin only had time to let out one last shocked gasp as Nick thrust his hand forward, driving the energy blade straight through Kevin's chest and out the back of it.

Kevin's struggles slowed, then ceased.

"...holy _crap_," Nozomi gasped.

Once Kevin had stopped moving completely, Nick extracted his energy blade, letting Kevin's lifeless body fall to the floor.

"It's done," Nick sighed. "You can rest in peace now, Kevin..."

Even as Nick fell to his knees, his psychic aura fading away, Alex was already over there to embrace her boyfriend, hoping she could give him the comfort he needed.

(Sam's P.O.V.)

Clover, Mat, Dawn, May, Melissa, and I looked around for the rocket that Kevin set off.

"Any ideas, Sammy?" Clover asked.

I checked my X-Powder.

"No detection yet," I said... until I finally did get one. "Got it."

"And WE can see it, too!" Dawn screamed.

We all looked in her direction and the rocket was coming for us!

"Holy damn!" Mat exclaimed.

We managed to fly out of harm's way just in time for the rocket to miss us.

"How's he doing it?" asked May.

"No idea," said Melissa.

"Wait a minute," said Mat. "If Kevin's controlling this, he must have some sort of control pad nearby or on the rocket, right?"

"It's worth a shot," I said, liking Mat's logic. "Clover, you come with us; the rest of you distract the rocket."

While the others flew away to keep the rocket busy, Clover and I each slipped on a pair of Cyberjacker Sunglasses, hoping to find a way to stop the rocket before its payload detonated.

"How much time do we have, Sammy?" Clover asked.

"Apparently, once the control panel senses that the rocket's left the atmosphere, that's when it's programmed to detonate," I explained. "Which means we've gotta hurry!"

So, Clover and I flew back towards the rocket to find a control panel to mess with, only for the rocket to change its direction and start flying right towards me.

_Seriously_, why is everything coming after _me_ now?! Is it because of my brain or something?!

Thankfully, Mat had just flown over to push me away from the rocket just in the nick of time.

"Oof, thanks, Mat," I giggled. "Now I owe you another one."

"You can pay me back later," Mat replied.

"I found the control panel!" Melissa exclaimed. "Hurry up, girls! I don't know how much time we have!"

I immediately flew closer to the rocket and began tinkering with the control panel with all the speed I could muster.

"Oh, jeez, I don't know if my stomach can take all this anxiety!" May shouted.

Thankfully, it was only about another minute before I was firmly able to disable the rocket's controls and stop its ascent. Whew, crisis averted!

"Whew... that was _way_ too close," Dawn sighed. "You can stop clutching your stomach now, May."

"Hehe, sorry," May giggled.

"Wait, what's going to happen to the rocket?!" Mat exclaimed.

The answer to that came in the form of a large net that shot out to ensnare the disabled rocket before it could start falling.

It was then and there that we saw Jerry commanding the WOOHP jet. I got out my X-Powder.

"Good work, agents," said Jerry.

"Thanks, Jer," I said. "Any word on Nick and the others?"

"See for yourself," said Jerry.

He then showed us Nick's team and Mat and I grinned at the result – Nick had done it, but we had a feeling it couldn't have been easy.

**5:59 PM – Spies' Beach House (Two Fridays later)**

"Hopefully you guys told him that Genesis made Kevin," Mat said to the others.

"Oh, we got it out, alright," said Haruka.

It took a while for Nick to get over losing Kevin again, even if it was an evil twin. On a good note, we were able to have Britney over at our beach house for a while. Mat had called for the TV time early – the 2006 Daytona Supercross was what he told us.

"I decided to sit with him a couple of weeks ago and he was left totally happy at the end," I told Britney.

"My favorite rider Chad Reed wins his first race of 2006 at St. Louis," Mat clarified to her. "He took the points lead over Ricky Carmichael by 9 because Carmichael finished 20th – last place – but now it's just 1 point as we head to Daytona – 191 for Reed, 190 for Carmichael."

"Ooh, lucky you, Mat," Britney commented.

"It worked once, but not the past two rounds in Atlanta and Indianapolis," said Mat. "Carmichael won both – especially after he threatened to quit the Supercross season due to a 25-point deduction for too much lead in his fuel at San Diego... but that's something totally hard to explain."

Nick was away (understandably), and Alex was about to go comfort him when the broadcast got under way. She stuck around a little longer. Shortly after the broadcast began was when Mat heard some troubling news.

(Mathew's P.O.V.)

After the introduction and all, the troubling news came out, courtesy of booth announcers Ralph Sheheen and analyst Denny Stephenson, the 1990 125cc East Supercross champ.

"Chad Reed, the great Australian racer, and former champion of the series, got injured earlier this week..." I heard Ralph Sheheen report before Denny Stephenson spoke next.

"As we learned in practice, he only rode a little bit of practice 1, did not ride practice 2, and right now... Chad is beat up. He dislocated a shoulder; as we've learned, if you hope run with Ricky Carmichael and James Stewart, you better be 100 percent. Chad Reed, he's gonna have his hands full tonight."

I groaned and put my hands on my head in panic, but Reed was in his riding gear, so I wasn't worried about him outright sitting out this race... for now.

"He better race if he's only leading by one," Haruka commented.

"I know he is," said Mat. "Otherwise, he'd not be in his riding gear."

As the broadcast went on, pit reporter Krista Voda was interviewing the wounded Chad Reed.

"Obviously yesterday I took a fall and separated my shoulder so uh... last night I said to myself, 'There's no possible way I can ride tonight'... That's life..." I heard Chad say in his interview.

Even more heartbreaking news came when a second story came: Honda's Ernesto Fonseca had suffered a bad crash at the Honda test track and suffered a fractured C7 vertebra, but there was a silver lining when booth host Dave Despain reported that Fonseca's surgery was a success.

"That's pretty bad," Bridget commented.

"Lucky his surgery was a success," said Britney.

"Uh-huh," I said. "I got to meet Fonseca in person, too – well before I transferred here."

That got everyone's attention.

"It's true," I said. "I just said 'hi', got an autographed poster from him, and wished him luck for the 2001 Supercross season."

The Supercross Lites class went first with their two heat races. I was able to watch through them no problem, but after the two heats was when Alex went to check on Nick.

"I think I see why you have Chad Reed as your favorite rider," Sam said to me.

"I'm glad," I said. "Another one of my heroes, David Vuillemin was in a similar boat in 2002 when he led Carmichael by 20 coming into Daytona. Vuillemin crashed during a photo shoot and hurt his shoulder – he elected not to race and lost his 20-point lead... and never made up anymore points on Carmichael. You can't imagine how disappointed I was in him... especially after Carmichael crashed out of the Anaheim opener and finished 20th (last place)."

"Wow," Haruka commented in surprise.

(Alex's P.O.V.)

I finally found Nick sitting on a bench just outside of Beverly Hills High School.

And, just as I expected, he's in 'thinking' mode. He's been that way ever since...

I figured I should probably go talk to him. He's still taking what he had to do pretty hard, after all.

And I wouldn't be doing my job as his girlfriend if I didn't try my best to help him out.

"Hey, you," I giggled, catching Nick's attention as I took a seat next to him. "What are you doing way out in these parts?"

You have no idea how much of a relief it was when Nick chuckled.

"Oh, just thinking about this and that," Nick replied. "What brings _you_ here, little missy?"

"Just wanted to see how you're doing," I responded.

"You can tell I'm still a little shaken over what I did," Nick sighed.

"It couldn't have been easy," I noted.

"It's just... first, there was the hope that maybe this was the same Kevin that I remembered," Nick explained. "Then there was the grief that he wanted us dead for some reason. Then..."

"There was the, as you put it, 'unyielding rage' when you found out this Kevin was just a creation of mister mad scientist," I finished for Nick.

"And now... there's just the emptiness, knowing he's gone again," Nick continued, his hands surrounded by the soft yellow glow of his psychic power. "I really hoped that there was a chance we could save him..."

"But he didn't give you any alternative," I answered. "We've met our fair share of villains like that, too."

I scooted a little closer to Nick so I could give him a hug. "I know it's gotta be hard on you, considering what you actually did..."

"That's what's been bugging me so much," Nick answered. "The fact that I _actually killed someone_, even if it was just a genetic clone that didn't act like Kevin did... I'm worried, Alex. It's a slippery slope, especially considering how close I came to actually killing him when he attacked _you_..."

"Hey, but remember what Haruka told you," I responded. "If you can't pull yourself out of the darkness, we'll do that for you, as many times as we gotta."

Much to my relief, Nick smiled at that. "Am I glad I have such wonderful friends that'll remind me of that when I forget..."

Before I could react, Nick leaned over and kissed me, a kiss I happily returned.

"Come on, let's get back home," I stated.

"Yeah, let's," Nick concurred. "I'm all for some normality after what an absolute freakin' _mess_ this caper's been..."

And so, our hands intertwined, Nick and I made our way back to the villa.

(Mathew's P.O.V.)

The broadcast still went on with a segment about 2001 125cc East Supercross champ Travis Pastrana between the races. The others took a breather until I saw something I thought I'd never ever see: Travis attempted a BACKFLIP on a 450cc motorcycle, and NEARLY pulled it off.

"What?! _WHAT?!_" I reacted with a dropped jaw. "THAT _JERK!_"

"Mat, what's up?" asked Haruka.

She and some of the spies came out just in time for me to show them Travis' botched backflip attempt. I just kept shaking my head in disbelief. We all got back for the two Supercross class heats. James Stewart won the first heat over Ricky Carmichael.

"Okay, sure hope Reed qualifies," I said.

Unfortunately, before the completion of lap 1, Chad was already on the side of the track after supposedly going down. I groaned again in panic as I heard TV analyst Denny Stephenson speak.

"You gotta believe the pain is too much for Chad to take; maybe he's gonna try the semi-final... the championship hopes for that number 22 Yamaha are slowly dwindling away."

"Hey, Mat, you okay?" Haruka asked.

"Supercross is a big thing for him," Sam answered.

"I can definitely relate to the whole 'superfan' thing," Nozomi giggled. "You should have seen me fangirling over this one Japanese baseball team..."

All that was left for me to watch was a battle between number 9 Ivan Tedesco and Travis Pastrana. I was getting real annoyed inside at Travis until he crashed HARD in the whoops with 2 laps to go and heard Ralph Sheheen speak.

"An unbelievable ride by Travis Pastrana and a direct transfer to the main event goes right out the window!"

"GOOD!" I exclaimed. "After that botched backflip... good!"

The spies all looked at me in some shock.

"There're only a handful of guys I DON'T like," I said. "Travis is at the top of that list; I still remember he said 'Racing has been my dream since I was 4 years old,' and I feel he threw it away. Number two would be James Stewart. I won't go into anymore details, but I WILL say that it's not nationality-related."

After showing the second semi-final, which Chad Reed won, I heard him say in his interview that "20 laps... is no problem." That was when we looked over and saw Alex and Nick return. Some of us got them up to speed during the next commercial break.

"I am astounded at the things these people do," Clover commented.

"It's for a championship and elite status," I said. "That's why I got nothing BUT respect for just about everybody out there."

Before we knew it, it was main event time. James Stewart got the holeshot, but Chad Reed came out in 2nd place, and heard Denny Stephenson again.

"And Chad Reed comes out 2nd... MAN, the guy is not..."

I lost what else he said and grinned in absolute amazement.

"I'm... speechless," said Bridget.

Everyone else was no different.

On lap 3, Carmichael and Reed briefly battled and Carmichael then made the move on Reed.

_Can Chad Reed come back and retake 2__nd__ place? Valuable points on the line here for Chad Reed,_ I thought and said out loud at the same time... until...

"Whoa..." I breathed a sigh of relief at a close call from Chad Reed... "_And Stewart's down!_" I exclaimed almost simultaneously with the announcers until Ralph stepped in.

"Stewart is down – you saw the yellow flags pop up! Stewart is down... and not rushing back to the motorcycle!"

Then came Denny Stephenson...

"That was an intense section – they're jumping very deep into the corner..."

A replay then showed, and we saw it was a VIOLENT wreck – enough to make us all cringe. Ralph Sheheen then spoke again.

"We have talked about how this series has seen nothing but plot twists all season and James IS BACK UP RIDING!"

We were all stunned to say the least. I then heard Denny Stephenson speak again at what we were seeing now.

"He has regained the main event in last... And Carmichael now... out front... Chad Reed in 2nd – unbelievable!"

All that was left to watch was a battle for 3rd between number 26 Michael Byrne on the Kawasaki, and number 11 Travis Preston on the Honda. I cheered on Byrne to get the podium. Little by little, Byrne pulled away from Preston.

On lap 12, I then heard Denny say, "We saw Grant Langston do it in the Lites Nationals a few years ago on an outdoor track; Chad Reed's doing it on a Supercross track..."

"When was that?" asked Clover.

"Southwick 2001," I said. "Langston was the points leader, separates his shoulder the day before the race... and guts out a 9th and a 4th for 6th overall. That's one of _THE WORST_ tracks to be riding hurt because it's sand. I never rode the track myself, but I know from the people who have that _IT IS BRUTAL!_"

Even through seeing James Stewart get lapped by Carmichael on lap 18, I had never felt SO proud of Chad Reed. He would have to surrender the points lead to Carmichael, but with 6 rounds remaining, I couldn't care less.

"Are you happy, Mat?" Sam asked me as she put a hand on my shoulder.

It took me a while to answer.

"Yes and no," I said. "But mostly yes; I _want_ to see Chad win, but given the circumstances... I can live with this. At the same time, Carmichael's going for 5 wins at Daytona; that's the alternate thing I wanted."

At the end of the race, it was Carmichael the winner for a record 5th time at Daytona – 1 better than Jeff Stanton's 4 straight from 1989-1992. I heard through Ralph and Denny's voices... until they got to Chad Reed.

"Chad Reed – an _unbelievable performance_ – it's not a win, but it is a _HUGE_ personal victory."

"One word, man: the guy's an animal."

I was SO happy to see the end result; it was Carmichael, Reed, and Byrne the top 3 with James Stewart fighting back from last to 6th. I grinned through Michael Byrne's interview for 3rd place, but the end of Chad Reed's interview left me really emotional.

"Chad Reed, a true test of courage tonight."

"An absolutely _OUTSTANDING _performance by Chad Reed. He's still in the points race..."

I couldn't hold my emotions anymore and gave a BIG sigh of relief and looked downward. I even felt Sam's arms around me and Britney and Haruka patting my shoulders.

"I almost lost my hope, but THAT is why Chad Reed is my new favorite," I said to them.

"Made a fan out of me, too," Sam stated, knowing full well how Mat felt.

We saw the points standings now, and it was Carmichael at the top with 215, Chad Reed only 2 points behind, and James Stewart 26 points behind (with 25 for the winner).

"That's heart right there," Nick commented.

I looked up to see the ending with the "Boo Koo Big Air Award" going back to Travis Pastrana's botched backflip. I couldn't help but utter another "Jerk!" at that. The broadcast was later over.

"You happy, Mat?" Alex asked.

I looked at Alex after clearing my eyes.

"Given the circumstances, I AM _VERY_ happy with this outcome," I replied. "Reed had to surrender the points lead... but I know how consistent Chad is. I can live with this."

"Well, now that the race is over, I feel I should probably ask," Bridget quipped. "You doing okay, Nick? I know you've been brooding over what happened..."

"I-It wasn't _brooding_, Bridget," Nick stuttered before composing himself. "I was just... coming to terms with it, shall we say."

Nick leaned back in the chair, just absentmindedly staring at the ceiling. "I had to make a really tough decision that day, and it didn't help that he tried to get in my head again after the _first_ time I nearly killed him," Nick explained. "I might have relented if Alex and the others hadn't reeled me back to reality."

"There's always a part of the job that's never easy, especially when you work for WOOHP," Sam admitted, leaning over to pat Nick on the shoulder. "Sometimes, you've got to do what you've got to do."

"That's probably why I've been so out of sorts ever since we finished our mission," Nick stated. "I just had to come to grips that, despite hoping for it, the Kevin I knew is still gone forever..."

Before Nick could continue, Alex leaped over and hugged him.

"Aw, Nick, we already had this talk, remember, silly?" Alex giggled.

"Yeah, we're not gonna let you keep ruminating on the darker elements," Haruka responded, diving across the couch to join in the group hug.

"We gotta keep our buddy happy, right?" Nozomi laughed, standing up and then pouncing on Nick from the front.

Nick actually let a few tears fall, beyond happy to have so many wonderful friends by his side.

Later that night, while Clover and Nozomi were arguing over what movie they were going to watch, Sam and Melissa debating over what kind of food they should order for the movie night, and Britney simply watching the events play out with an amused smile on her face, Nick and Alex were up in her room, secretly playing Super Smash Bros. Melee, as Dawn had actually wanted to host a Melee tournament tonight to prepare for the upcoming sequel, Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

"Hey, Nick, do you feel bad that we're practicing for this while the others aren't?" Alex giggled.

"They never said we couldn't," Nick laughed. "My Roy's still in top form, after all."

"And we'll see what Zelda has to say about that!" Alex proclaimed.

To both spies' surprise, Haruka poked her head in through the door. "Yo, if you lovebirds are done Smashing, we're getting pizza from that place Nozomi ordered last time," Haruka stated.

"She was right, you know," Alex replied. "That pizza place is the _bomb_!"

"Well, then you should probably get your butts down here before the Second Great Beverly Hills Topping Debate begins, so you can get your own word in," Haruka proclaimed.

"Yeah, I got a feeling _that's_ going to be ugly," Nick quipped.

As Nick and Alex put their game on pause to get ready for said heated debate, Nick suddenly pulled Alex close to him and kissed her passionately.

"I love you, Alex," Nick stated.

"Awww... I love you, too, Nick," Alex replied.

"Just wanted to say it as much as I can, _especially_ after all of this," Nick explained.

Nick and Alex reached out to hold hands as they followed Haruka downstairs, where they could already hear the beginning of the debate.

(Sam's P.O.V.)

"I say we do get pineapple," said Alex, rekindling her suggestion from earlier.

"Funny you say that," said Mat to Alex. "I remember Clover saying 'Hawaiians put that on their pizza' – I should've said, 'You've got a former Hawaii resident in the house in yours truly,' but as crazy as it sounds, I haven't tried a pizza that way before – it just didn't appeal to me."

"I'm shocked," said Bridget back to Mat.

"So... you got a vote, Mat?" asked Nozomi.

"Sure," said Mat. "Mushrooms suffice for me."

Dawn smiled at that suggestion – especially after the last debate we went through.

"I'm not choosy," Haruka replied.

"Meat lovers for me," Nick said again.

"I'm still voting anchovies," I said, which made Nick roll his eyes again which I couldn't help but giggle at.

"Sammy, I hope you stock up on the mints for afterwards," said Clover.

"As long as nobody says any seafood, I'm cool," said Mat. "I need a little water in the meantime."

"I'm pretty sure none of us are saying 'seafood', Mat," Haruka said to him."

"That's good," said Mat from the kitchen. "I may be from Hawaii, but seafood isn't popular with me."

I was a little surprised, and I even asked Mat why when he came back.

"I don't know," Mat answered, shrugging his shoulders. "That doesn't mean I'm not used to the smell though."

"I still vote on pepperoni and olives," said Melissa.

May gagged again on the olives.

"Hey, don't diss one of my favorites," said Mat.

"We just have different tastes," May reminded him.

"I'll give you that," said Mat. "It's just that I loved it when my grandma would leave me full olives for me to eat full."

"I vote extra cheese," Clover spoke up.

"Brit, you got a vote?" I asked.

"Hmm? Nah, I'm good," said Britney. "I'm OK with anything you guys are voting on; this pizza debate is too funny, though."

I had to admit, this pizza debate WAS pretty funny.

"Well I guess we'll split everyone's suggestions and get stuffed crust again like last time," Nozomi declared.

"Sounds good to me," said Mat.

"Major thanks, Nozomi," said Haruka.

We all remembered our "thanks" to Nozomi, too.

"No problem," Nozomi replied.

Nick went along to help her carry the pizza.

"Well there's one last thing to settle: our movie," said Clover.

That was one debate I didn't care too much about in this case... instead when the mood died down, I got up from the couch and motioned to Mat that I wanted to talk to him alone upstairs in my room. I even snuck a wink to Alex without Mat seeing me. She shot me a smile back.

"What's up?" Mat asked. "Something wrong?"

"No," I answered and gave him a smile. "I just wanted to properly thank you for saving me – twice."

Mat looked surprised.

"Well, you're welcome. I'd hate to leave a girl in distress after all," said Mat as he grabbed my hands. "Especially you."

It was enough to make me blush.

"And I wouldn't have minded it if you said it out in the living room with everyone else," Mat continued.

"I know," I said. "But it's just you and me, so... I feel this way is better."

"Oh, I get you," said Mat. "But, seriously, Sam... I better say this: I'd have done the same thing even if that were Clover or Alex or anybody else in this house; I'd do it again. No matter what, I'm nice by nature. It kills me a bit that some people just stomp on me the way they do."

"Don't I know it," I said, thinking of all the times Mandy's done the exact same thing.

"Mandy, huh?" Mat asked.

"Mm-hmm," I replied with a nod.

"I think you'd be surprised at some of the stuff I'd say if she gets to us, or me again," said Mat.

"I'm sure," I said, then prepared to drop the subject. "But anyway... I feel I should still properly thank you for saving me twice on the last mission."

"My pleasure, Sam," said Mat. "And like I said: I'd do it again – even if it were Clover or Alex."

"I know," I said.

I puckered up and Mat and I started to hug and kiss each other. It was over nine whole minutes of pure bliss Mat and I were sharing before I heard a knock and my door open. It turned out to be Haruka.

"Sorry, guys," She said, then cracking a grin. "Am I interrupting?"

"No way," I said. "What's up? Nozomi back yet?"

"Exactly," Haruka answered. "She just got back a minute ago. You lovebirds better hurry."

"We'll be right there," said Mat.

"Get it while you're young," said Haruka as she left us alone.

Mat and I looked at each other.

"She got that right," said Mat. "'Get it while you're young', baby."

I could only nod in agreement – even through that interruption. Mat and I shared a last kiss before we did go back and rejoin the others.

"I don't suppose you'd be up for a walk together after that?" Mat asked me. "Otherwise... I'm all for a little water time – just you and me."

"Okay," I said, slightly surprised at Mat's offer. "I'll let you know."

I had a pretty good idea what Mat might want me to choose. We just casually walked back together to our group.

"There you are," Clover said to us.

"Dig in, there's still a lot of pizza left," Nick told us.

Alex gave me a grin and thumbs up at me as Mat and I sat back down.

"Great," said Mat.

"You missed the first movie, Sam," said Britney. "Melissa wanted _Jurassic Park III_. Clover's looking for another as we speak."

"Maybe I'm glad I missed that one," Mat commented. "I can't stand the scary movies."

"I can't find a good one," said Clover.

Dawn was helping her look.

"Hey, if you're taking suggestions, we could go old school and go with _Blue Lagoon_," said Mat.

"Holy _crapbaskets_, I haven't seen that movie in _years_," Nick admitted. "That one was before me."

"It was before a lot of us, honestly," Alex giggled.

I just had a feeling that Mat might suggest something like that. Mat and I then took some pizza and helped ourselves to a hearty dinner.

"Thanks, Sam," Mat quietly said to me. "That felt nice to be alone, even if it was just a little while."

"Anytime," I replied back quietly. "You know that's only the beginning."

"Ready for movie #2?" Clover asked.

"Pop it in, Clover," said Britney.

As Clover went to start the next movie, the group was distracted by a small rumble from somewhere far-off.

"...the heck was that?" Clover asked.

"Sounds like that numbnut a few blocks away who was messing with his house the other day," Nozomi stated. "Like, really, what was he _thinking_, messing with that huge _sledgehammer_?!"

A couple more rumbles came, and that was enough to get Alex to hop to her feet and move towards the door to investigate.

"Jeez, it sounds like he's _jackhammering_ something!" Alex teased.

**("Demon vs. Demon" by Hachimitsu-Lemon plays)**

Nick didn't know what, exactly, it was.

Was it his psychic-enhanced senses?

Was it merely primal instinct warning him of danger?

Regardless of what had actually warned him, Nick didn't hesitate to act, his psychic aura bursting to life around him. He quickly thrust his hand forward, ensnaring Alex in his psychic grip so he could yank her backwards and into his arms.

It turns out that Nick had acted just in time, as the instant Alex went flying backwards, the door was smashed clean off of its hinges, hitting the ground with such force that it would have crushed Alex had Nick not pulled her away.

"All right, wacko, you wanna explain yourself?" Nick shouted. "We've already had a lot of nonsense going on this week, and this is the _last_ thing we need right now!"

"And don't think you're not paying for the door repair!" Clover exclaimed.

"Clover, not now..." Sam sighed.

The figure in question began to laugh in a very maniacal manner, one that put all the spies on edge.

After all, hadn't they just put the owner of that laugh away two-and-a-half weeks ago?

"Oh, don't tell me..." Alex groaned.

Sure enough, it was Professor Genesis.

Though he looked like he'd seen better days.

Most of his body was bulked out, much like those bodybuilders that grew in muscle thanks to those odd food bars, his fingers had all become razor-sharp nails, and his eyes were now glowing a nasty shade of green, much like the veins on his body that now stood out like a sore thumb.

"What in the _hell_?!" Nozomi shouted.

"What... did you _do_ to yourself?!" Nick exclaimed.

"Simple, you smartass _brat_," Genesis proclaimed in a deep and growly voice. "I kept a more perfected version of my serum with me even as you captured me, and when I knew the time was right, I consumed it and became the majesty that you see before you. WOOHP could not hold me much longer beyond that, as you can probably tell."

"You're not _majestic_!" Clover shouted. "You look like those wacko outfits that Mandy regurgitated during Fashion Week!"

"And you _still_ don't get it, do you?!" Nick growled. "Do you _seriously_ lack the brain capacity to ignore what you're _actually_ doing with that formula of yours?!"

"I wouldn't expect you to understand my genius," Genesis laughed. "But you _can_ understand _this_, boy. This..."

Genesis flexed his muscles, the veins bulging out dangerously.

"...is where _you die_."

Genesis charged forward, surprisingly fast for someone so bulky. Nick wasted no time in unleashing his aura and ducking low to punch Genesis in the stomach, only to be shocked when the punch had little to no effect on the mad scientist.

That moment of surprise allowed Genesis to grab Nick from both sides and throw him into the opposite wall, rushing after him and throwing punch after punch into Nick's chest while he couldn't fight back.

"Claws _off_ of my boyfriend, sicko!" Alex exclaimed, immediately aiming a Wind Tunnel 9000 for Genesis. "You only get one warning."

"Do you _honestly_ believe you stand a chance with that paltry thing?!" Genesis cackled, only for Nick to use that moment to break free of his attacker's grip and land a psychic-enhanced shoulder tackle that pushed Genesis away.

However, Genesis quickly recovered and lashed out just as Nick leaped towards him to continue his assault, his claws catching Nick across the chest and sending him crashing into the stairwell.

_Damn it, that HURT,_ Nick thought, preferring not to look at the wound he now sported, thankfully not a very serious one. _I need to get this fight out of here, or Genesis is probably gonna destroy the whole villa just to put me down._

Nick juked to the side, using his psychic power to enhance his dodging speed, only for Genesis to grab him in mid-dodge and brutally toss him upwards through the ceiling and into Alex's room, where he bounced off of the ceiling and back to the floor.

Genesis leaped upwards through the hole he'd made to confront Nick.

"If you don't stop smashing our home _right now_, Genesis, there _will_ be consequences," Nick proclaimed.

"Oh, really?" Genesis cackled. "Like what?"

"I'm sure you heard what I did to Kevin, _right_?" Nick shot back. "I don't want to have to kill anyone else if I can help it, but you're really not giving me any other alternative, are you?"

"Don't think you have the guts to slay me," Genesis laughed, only to barely dodge a stab from Nick's psychic blade that had been aiming for his heart.

"You were _saying_, asshole?" Nick taunted before rushing Genesis, psychically pushing him through the window and outside.

After propelling them a few feet forward so they wouldn't damage the villa any further, Nick flipped over Genesis and blasted him into the ground with a short-range burst before pursuing.

Genesis only had time to groan in frustration as Nick landed, slamming his right foot into Genesis' chest hard and causing Genesis to cough up green-tinted blood upon impact.

"You've lost your mind, Genesis," Nick sighed. "Is there _no low_ you won't sink to?!"

"Whatever is necessary to see my vision of human evolution come to pass!" Genesis exclaimed, flipping onto his feet and facing down Nick.

The rest of the spies came barreling out the front door after informing Jerry of what was happening.

"We've gotta help him," Alex proclaimed. "No way am I letting Nick do this all on his own!"

"That's right, Alex!" Britney proclaimed. "Friends stick up for each other, after all!"

"Let's go give this mad scientist ripoff the beating of his _life_!" Clover exclaimed.

No more needed to be said as the spies all dashed towards Nick to help him in his battle.

(Haruka's P.O.V.)

I couldn't believe Professor Genesis was back at us after I had cuffed him earlier.

"You cuffed him earlier, but we'll get him where he really belongs," said Mat.

"Uh-huh," said Sam in agreement.

Professor Genesis was all over Nick like a bad itch. I managed to get there in time to stop Genesis from giving Nick his demise.

"You all are staying back!" Genesis demanded.

"Oh, I seriously do not see that happening!" Alex exclaimed.

"I'm with Alex," said Bridget.

"We said it before, we'll say it again," said Mat.

"You mess with Nick, you mess with ALL OF US!" Nozomi protested.

"And if you think we're backing off, guess again," May replied.

"You heard 'em, Genesis," Nick said, with his aura brightening.

"Your gloating is bad enough," Dawn added in. "But this ends now!"

"Plus, you're gonna pay for interrupting our movie night!" Clover protested.

Sam, Mat and I rolled our eyes at that. How Clover found ways to bring things like that in, I'll never know.

"I can do that once in a while, but she's a pro at that it seems," Mat commented.

Bridget, Melissa, and I teamed up next.

"No way are you stomping on our plans for tonight!" Melissa declared.

She and Bridget managed to strike Professor Genesis down with a double kick. He got up, but it bought Nick enough time to get to his feet. I knew then and there that was my time.

"Now you deal with me next," I said.

"Want a little help?" Nick asked me.

"Not gonna say no," I said.

"You're just more bodies for the tubes, as far as I care!" Genesis shouted, shambling forward and picking up speed. Seriously, he looks _so stupid_ like that...

...ugh, enough of the silly stuff, Haruka, you can mock him _after_ we put him down.

As Genesis tried to slash us into ribbons from above, Nick and I simply juked to the side to avoid it, and, to our surprise, Genesis' claws got stuck in the ground.

Oh, I know what time it is. And I know Nick's thinking the same thing.

"You thinking what I'm thinking, Nick?" I asked.

"You'd better believe it," Nick answered.

Both of us ran to opposite sides of Genesis as he attempted to extract his claws, and we then lashed out at the same time, attacking Genesis from both sides in perfect sync.

Together, we landed at least four different punches before kicking Genesis into the air with dual leg lifts, then we jumped after him to drive both of our fists into Genesis' muscle-y stomach with enough force to send him crashing to the ground.

"Ah, Accel Dance _never_ gets old," I giggled, only for my laughter to stop when Genesis picked himself up like that move hadn't done anything to him. "Man, what's it gonna take to send you back to your la-la land?!"

"More than your pathetic tricks, that's for sure!" Genesis cackled.

(Sam's P.O.V.)

"I'm sure they know what they're doing," Clover stated, referring to Nick and Haruka.

"Hard to doubt them," said Mat. "But we gotta do something to help them and send Professor Genesis to the next best place."

Like clockwork, we heard the WOOHP jet over our heads and saw Jerry assisting us by dropping us packs with our gadgets from the sky. I knew the drill and got out my X-Powder to hear out Jerry.

"Spies, we've got a problem," Jerry said to us.

"If it's Professor Genesis, we... got the message already," said Mat.

"I figured," said Jerry. "But there's a way to beat him."

"Well, out with it, Jer," I said. "Let's hear it."

"Do you all see a strange apparatus on his back?" Jerry stated.

As Nick and Haruka continued to attack Genesis, I actually _did_ see that apparatus the instant he spun around. How did we not notice that before?!

"Yeah, now we do," I answered. "Is that how he's hulking out?"

"Exactly," Jerry stated. "We were able to deduce before he escaped that he's using that apparatus to inject his mutation serum directly into his body at a steady rate. That's how he's shrugging off so many of your attacks. We figured out earlier that his serum only has a temporary effect unless it's being constantly injected into the bloodstream."

"So, basically, we cut him off from that, we can get him back to normal and layeth the smackdown he deserves?" Nozomi asked.

"Precisely," Jerry answered.

"I don't know how he does it, but _thank you, Jerry_," said Mat as I shut my X-Powder and we all got our packs on.

"I don't think that's worth finding out, Mat," I said, rolling my eyes. "But I think I have a plan that just might work after that info from Jerry."

"All ears," said Mat and Clover simultaneously.

The rest of us gathered around me after Mat called them in (Dawn, Nozomi, Britney, and May).

"What's the game plan, Sammy?" Clover asked.

"Well, first off, Brit, Mat, and I will be working from the sky," I began.

"Okay, gotcha," Mat quickly said.

"Clover, Nozomi, you try and distract Genesis from the ground," I continued. "We need to get a good vantage point to either destroy that apparatus or yank it out of him, and I'm pretty sure he's going to catch on unless we keep him on his toes."

"Will do, Sammy," said Clover.

"We'll make him look like a chump in no time," said Nozomi.

"Totally," said Britney and May simultaneously.

"Okay, spies, let's do this," I said.

I then used my jet pack backpack to execute my plan.

"Brit? Mat?" I double-checked as I got airborne.

"Right behind you," said Mat as the three of us flew together.

While we were flying, I felt Mat tap my shoulder.

"You happen to decide yet about what I offered you earlier?" Mat asked.

I knew what he was talking about – just him and me either taking a walk or swim together – but I WAS taken by surprise.

"Just thought I'd ask," said Mat. "I'm up for both afterwards if you want."

I just flashed a smile at him; I wasn't bothered at all – it was a nice distraction. I then gave Mat my answer.

"I figured maybe we could take a walk around town, since we've been in the pool a _lot_ lately," Sam answered. "Nice change of pace, you think?"

"Consider it done, Sammy," Mat replied.

Clover quickly charged into the battlefield, gesturing in what she hoped was a rude enough way to draw Genesis' attention.

"Are you _asking_ for a brutal and painful death, fool?" Genesis proclaimed.

"Yeah, right," Clover taunted as Sam and Mat both fired their Wind Tunnel 9000s from the air to stumble Genesis, thus exposing his serum apparatus to Nick and Haruka and allowing them to figure out what they had to do. "Just trying to tell you that you don't stand a chance against the best fashionista in Beverly Hills!"

Just as Sam began to slow down so she could ascend to a higher vantage point, Genesis surprised everyone by leaping extremely high into the air, towards Mat.

"Mat!" Sam exclaimed.

"What the _hell_?!" Mat shouted.

"You _honestly_ didn't think I was going to fall for that, did you?!" Genesis cackled. "I know how to protect the only thing that's giving me the glorious power to eradicate all the unworthy wretches who are blighting this world! Do you take me for a fool?!"

Genesis aimed a fierce double claw strike for the vulnerable Mat, but Sam activated the boost function on her Jetpack Backpack and flying forward like lightning to push Mat away from the attack.

Despite this, Genesis' claws managed to slice into Sam's jetpack, though she quickly discarded it, as Mat was carrying her.

"Thanks for the save, Mat," Sam stated. "I guess we're even now."

"Yeah, but we officially have another problem," Mat replied. "How do we get that thing off of him when he knows it's his weak point?"

"Therein lies the rub," Sam quipped.

"Fools, every last one of you!" Genesis proclaimed, only to be violently whipped around by a whirlwind created from a Tornado in a Can of Hairspray.

"Seriously, how many times are you going to fall for that?" Alex laughed. "Pay attention to the battle, mister scientist!"

After shaking himself off, Genesis leaped for Alex, who dodged to the right of the overhead slash, only for Genesis to immediately snatch Alex out of her second dodge with his other hand and hold her up.

"You see, you wretched spies?" Genesis cackled. "This is what happens when you challenge human evolution! This is what you get for thinking you were foolish enough to face me!"

Genesis brought his free hand back, the straightening of his razor nails making it very obvious what he was about to do.

"Kevin simply made the mistake of not finishing the job last time, or rather, he didn't aim for the vital spots," Genesis stated. "This time, though, you will not survive!"

The instant Genesis thrust his hand forward, Nick couldn't take anymore and shouted "STOP!"

Reacting to his exclamation, a bubble of psychic energy exploded to life around him and expanded rapidly, covering the entire street the group was fighting on.

When Nick opened his eyes, everything within the giant bubble of psychic energy had frozen completely, as if time had ground to a halt inside the bubble for everyone but him. Genesis' claw had stopped just short of Alex's chest.

"Holy crap, I almost forgot I could do that," Nick quipped. He'd learned how to (temporarily, of course) freeze time for everything around him during the Extreme Dodgeball match Mat had been a part of, when some random schmuck had dropped a cup full of ice on him. _I STILL have no idea what exactly was in that ice that made me lose control back then, but eh, I got a new power out of the deal, so I can't exactly complain._

After pushing Alex slightly to the right so the claw wouldn't stab her, Nick quickly made his way to behind Genesis so he could raise his right hand and charge up a Final Shine Attack.

"This is what happens when you make me angry, Genesis," Nick taunted. "Bad things have happened to people who make me angry."

Nick raised his other hand, ready to undo the time freeze at any second.

"_FINAL SHINE ATTACK!"_ Nick shouted, disengaging the time freeze the instant he thrust his hand forward to unleash a great blast of neon-green energy that screamed through the mid-day air and struck the apparatus on Genesis' back, destroying it rather handily.

"W-what?! How did you... what sorcery is this?!" Genesis gasped, his grip on Alex loosening enough for her to kick her way out of it and rejoin the spies.

"Holy crap, Alex, are you okay?!" Melissa asked.

"Whatever Nick did, it saved my bacon," Alex giggled.

"I simply remembered an old power I haven't used in a while," Nick teased before turning to Genesis and raising both of his hands for the finishing blow. "As for _this_ one, it's a new'un, so keep your eyes peeled."

"You _really _think I'll let you have the satisfaction?!" Genesis shouted, only to be hit with something and instantly paralyzed on the spot.

"Yeah, suck on _that_," Nozomi quipped, holding a bottle of Immobilizing Stun-Tan Lotion in her hands.

"I warned you, Genesis," Nick growled, his right hand surrounded by yellow light and his right hand surrounded by green light. "I _warned you_. You try to hurt my friends, you're going to pay the price."

Nick slammed his hands together, combining the yellow and green lights into a bright silver light that enveloped both of his hands.

"And attacking my _girlfriend_ is an instant line-crosser, in case you didn't hear me the first time," Nick proclaimed. "So I hope you're ready to say your prayers, Professor Genesis!"

Nick raised both of his hands, the light enveloping them growing brighter and brighter. _"SHINING STAR ATTACK!"_

Paralyzed as he was, Genesis could only scream in despair as Nick unleashed his gathered energy in the form of a massive wave of silver light almost resembling a tsunami. The wave of light crashed into Genesis and exploded into a brilliant flash almost instantly, and when it cleared, Genesis was flat on the ground and completely unconscious, his muscles slowly regressing as the serum wore off.

"And that's the end of that," Nick quipped. "Haruka, cuff him again so I can send him on his way."

"End of the line, Genesis," Haruka proclaimed. "This time, you're not getting away."

Haruka reached into her Jetpack Backpack and retrieved the cuffs she'd been planning to use a while ago and finally snapped them over the now normal and defenseless Genesis' wrists. Nick followed this up by once again encasing Genesis in a psychic bubble and flicking his hand upward to send the bubbled Genesis off to WOOHP headquarters, where he would hopefully stay locked up this time.

"Finally, it's all over," Britney sighed. "I hope."

"Yeah, are you sure he doesn't have any more tricks, Nick?" Bridget asked.

"Not this time," Nick affirmed. "We busted up his lab, swiped his formula reserves, and wrecked his trump card. I think we've really got him this time."

"Yeah, I believe we can consider this case closed," Haruka giggled.

"FINALLY!" Clover exclaimed. "It felt like this case has been going on for, like, nine _years_ or something!"

"...it's only been three weeks, Clover," May answered, causing everyone to start laughing.

As the group returned to the villa to fix the damage that Genesis had caused, Sam and Mat excused themselves from the group and began walking down the opposite street.

"Guess they couldn't wait, huh?" Alex giggled.

"Let's let them have their moment," Nick stated. "We've got a room to fix first."

"Oh, yeah! That _jerk_ messed up my room!" Alex growled, the others laughing again.

(Note from **Mat49324**: Yes, we're FINALLY coming to a close on this. We don't really know what happened honestly, but our next one _WILL NOT_ take us nine years to finish.)

(Sam's P.O.V.)

We had waved back at them as Mat and I held hands while we walked down the neighborhood together.

"Thanks, Sam," said Mat.

"My pleasure," I replied. "I have to admit as tempting as it was to say 'swim', we have been poolside quite a bit – not that I mind."

"I was OK with either one," said Mat. "But about being poolside quite a bit... point taken. I just wanted us alone either way."

I was then surprised as Mat pecked me on the cheek; it was enough to make me blush. We continued our merry stroll, even with me putting my head on Mat's shoulder. I giggled at him when I felt him kiss my head. I then was a bit more surprised when he stopped for a second, but when I looked back at him, he pulled me into a hug... which I later returned... after a quick gasp.

"I love you, Sammy," said Mat into my ear.

"I love you, too, Mathew," I replied back and we shared another kiss that lasted three whole seconds.

We couldn't resist and shared another passionate kiss afterwards. I was totally surprised when I felt Mat swoop me in his arms during our kiss like towards the end of the mission when he caught me from the sky. It was pure steamy bliss the whole time. Mat put me down and we continued our walk.

"I think that win from Chad Reed at St. Louis really did a lot for my morale," said Mat, breaking the (seemingly long) two-minute silence. "Considering how many times I saved you and vice versa."

"No arguments from this corner," I commented with a chuckle. "I totally see why Chad Reed is your hero; you became _my_ hero after the last mission."

I gave Mat a kiss on the cheek... then right on his lips, still appreciative he saved me as many as three times this past mission.

"I gotta say that saving you is a habit I wouldn't mind getting used to," said Mat with a giggle.

"As long as I can do the same," I laughed.

It wasn't until we reached the nearest beach shoreline where I saw Mat look at for a bit. I got a look and couldn't help but admire the nice view.

"Feels like I'm looking at a sunset back in Hawaii," said Mat.

"It does feel like it," I commented. "I'm sure you've seen your fair share."

"Yeah, I have," said Mat. "And I've learned a few things from living in Hawaii."

He then made his way to the sand, which alerted me inside because I had a feeling he'd do... something I didn't think he'd do. I ran after him.

"Mat, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Sam, if you think I'm gonna do what you think I'm gonna do... you're wrong," said Mat as he came to a stop.

I still looked dumbfounded, until I saw him go barefoot.

"That's about as bold as I'm gonna get," said Mat.

"No shoes?" I asked.

"Yeah," said Mat matter-of-factly. "I saw this A LOT on the beaches in Hawaii for romantic moments like this."

I still wasn't convinced.

"Come on, Sammy, give it a try," Mat said to me. "Believe me – you ever come to Hawaii, and you don't try this at all, you ain't living right. I did it."

For some reason, I was giggling inside that Mat called this move "bold."

"Oh... okay," I said, thinking Mat wouldn't go in the water.

Before long, Mat and I walked along the beach with our free arms around each other. I had to admit I liked having sand between my toes and all; I now knew what Mat was talking about. I had to admit that feeling the sand between my toes felt really nice.

"You really are a sweetheart, Mat," I said when we came to a stop after a while more. "I hope you know that."

"Believe me, I do," said Mat.

As much of a crime I felt it was, I decided now was a good time to get my sandals back on. Mat saw and followed suit, but I had good reason...

... to head back to sit with Mat on the nearest bench... but I couldn't resist one last moment with him.

"I like that most about you," I said to Mat about his sweet side. "You said you're 'nice by nature' – you mean it."

We shared another hug.

"I love you, Mat," I whispered.

"I love you, too," said Mat right back.

As the sun was nearly going down, Mat and I shared a last deep and passionate kiss before we went back to sit at a nearby bench to watch the beautiful night sky for a while longer. We couldn't let our hands go (as if we wanted to), but I lay my head on Mat's shoulder again. I had to admit this was a really nice date Mat wanted.

"You think we should head back?" Mat asked me after about fifteen minutes of sitting down.

"Yeah, maybe Nick and the others are done with the door," I replied.

We then started walking back together.

"You think we should do this again?" Mat asked me.

"You just say when, and we'll go for a walk again," I said with no hesitation at all.

I felt Mat stroke my cheek. I giggled at the feeling.

"I liked this, too," I said to Mat.

When we were about five minutes away from our house, part of me felt I didn't want this time with Mat to be over just yet.

"Hey," Mat then said to me. "I was thinking of just dipping my feet in the jacuzzi after the walk we took together, Sammy. You wanna join me? We can sit in the water if you want to."

"Do you even have to ask, Mat? I'd love to," I replied.

Sure enough, the front door was good as new once we got there. Nick and the others sure did a good job with it. We shared a last kiss for the night and did go inside.

"Hey, welcome back," said Clover.

"Did you lovebirds have a good time?" Haruka teased, only to be yanked backwards by Nozomi. "EEP!"

"Haruka, do you have to tease them every time?" Nozomi sighed. "You do that enough with Nick and Alex, for crying out loud."

"But it's fuuuuuuuuuuuun," Haruka mock-whined.

"Say, where _are_ those two, anyway?" Mat asked.

"Oh, they're fixing up Alex's room, since Genesis threw Nick up into it and he smashed him out the window," Dawn answered. "Thankfully, it looks like it's coming along pretty well, considering psychic powers make an excellent room-fixer."

Sure enough, Nick and Alex were upstairs, Nick using his powers to fix up the broken window.

"And that's the last of it," Nick quipped, his psychic aura fading away. "Thank goodness that Genesis didn't wreck the whole house. That would have been hell and a half to fix."

"You fixed WOOHP HQ, remember?" Alex teased, referring to the end of the spies' previous large-scale case, when Terrence had destroyed WOOHP HQ with the Eclipse Cannon. After Terrence's defeat, Nick had used his bolstered psychic powers to easily repair the HQ.

"Yeah, but I don't think I'll be able to access _that_ level of power again unless something _really_ big goes down," Nick answered.

"Well, when you needed it, it came through, so there's that," Alex replied.

"I'm just glad this madness is all over," Nick sighed. "This case has _seriously_ been emotionally taxing on me, and I'm just hoping our next caper is more 'normal'..."

"_Normal_," Alex teased.

"Yeah, with us, pretty much every one of our capers has a weird aspect to it," Nick admitted. "But honestly, I'd take a Macker or a N.V. over what we've been messing with lately."

"Hey, I think I hear Sammy," Alex quipped.

"Then let's go rejoin the group, since we still have to get to our second movie," Nick stated.

With that said, Nick and Alex made their way back downstairs to re-commune with their fellow spies.

It didn't take long for the entire group to get back into the movie they'd been planning to watch before Genesis had interrupted them.

At the halfway point, Sam and Mat snuck a passionate kiss while they thought no one was looking.

"Look at those two," Alex giggled.

"Why can't _we_ follow their example, huh?" Nick laughed.

Nothing more needed to be said, as Nick and Alex leaned in for a kiss of their own, happy that they could all settle into their normal routine after being put through the emotional wringer over the past few weeks.

"I love you, Alex," Nick stated.

"I love you, too, Nick," Alex replied.

And with that, they settled in to watch the movie with their friends like nothing had ever gone wrong.

_~Totally Spies!: Disillusioned Memories~  
__~The End~_

* * *

**Final Author's Notes from The Blue Time Ranger: **FINALLY! WE ARE FINALLY DONE!

Holy _crapbaskets_ in _molasses_, I have no clue what the hell took us NINE FRICKIN' YEARS to finally get this story done. At first it was most likely just me overwhelming myself with multiple stories as I tended to do back then, and then...

...I guess I just lost interest in Totally Spies, even though I still love the show. And considering they only ever released the first three seasons on DVD (I never got to see season six, FYI), and considering there's a gigantic chunk of fics here on that ship Sam with, get this, TIM FORKING SCAM...

...can someone tell me why that pairing is so popular? IT MAKES NO (expletive deleted)ING SENSE. I mean, crack pairings and all that, but why did THIS specific pairing take off the way it did?!

...okay, rant over.

A few months back, Totally Spies actually came back to American television on Universal Kids, and I think that rekindled my love of the show enough so that I smacked myself upside the proverbial head that Mat and I needed to seriously get this story of ours done.

So, to any old readers of our stuff, we're really sorry it took so long, but it's finally done. And Mat and I are soon going to be diving into another Totally Spies adventure, that'll probably be more 'normal' in comparison to how insane this story got at times.

And, lastly, but not leastly, here's a preview for that next adventure, _Totally Spies: Affairs of the Heart_! Enjoy the preview, and we'll see you there!

Stay gold,  
The Blue Time Ranger

* * *

"Wha... _you_ two again?!" Clover exclaimed when she saw the two figures emerge from the shadows to reveal themselves as Geraldine Husk and Natalie Valentine.

"You've dealt with these weirdos before?" Melissa asked.

"Just two of _many_ nuts we've put away," Alex admitted.

"And I'm assuming that _you're_ the ones who took Mat?" Sam growled, immediately shifting into a fighting stance.

"So what if we are?" Geraldine cackled, clearly enjoying Sam's rage.

Nick spread his arms out, his psychic aura flaring to life. "You'll quickly find out that kidnapping friends of ours is a _gigantic no-no_ in our book of what you don't do around us."

"You honestly think we're scared of you, spies?!" Natalie cackled.

"You should be!" Sam shot back. "Nobody does... _that_... to _my_ boyfriend and gets away with it! _NOBODY!_"

"Sam, get back here! We've gotta think of a plan!" Haruka shouted, only for her words to fall on deaf ears as Sam rushed to attack Geraldine and Natalie.

_To be continued in Totally Spies: Affairs of the Heart_...


End file.
